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_. | SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. __ 
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY _ 
Ga ene bi BULLETIN 151 i 


= 


-* ANTHROPOLOGICAL _ 


" 


Numbers 33-42 


SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 


BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 
BULLETIN 151 


ANTHROPOLOGICAL 
PAPERS 


Numbers 33-42 


UNITED STATES 
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 
WASHINGTON : 1953 


For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office 
Washington 25, D. C. 


LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL 


SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 
Bureau or AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY, 
Washington, D. C., September 15, 1950. 
Sir: I have the honor to submit the accompanying manuscripts, 
entitled ‘Of the Crow Nation,” by Edwin Thompson Denig, edited 
by John C. Ewers; ‘‘The Water Lily in Maya Art: A Complex of 
Alleged Asiatic Origin,’ by Robert L. Rands; ‘‘The Medicine Bun- 
dles of the Florida Seminole and the Green Corn Dance,” by Louis 
Capron; “Technique in the Music of the American'Indian,’’,by,Frances 
Densmore; “The Belief of the Indian in a Connection between Song 
and the Supernatural,” by Frances Densmore; “Aboriginal Fish Poi- 
sons,’ by Robert F. Heizer; ‘Aboriginal Navigation off the Coasts 
of Upper and Baja California,’ by Robert F. Heizer and William 
C. Massey; ‘Exploration of an Adena Mound at Natrium, West 
Virginia,” by Ralph S. Solecki; ‘The Wind River Shoshone Sun 
Dance,” by D. B. Shimkin; and “Current Trends in the Wind River 
Shoshone Sun Dance,” |by Fred W. Voget; and to recommend that 
they be published as a bulletin of the Bureau of American Ethnology. 
Very respectfully yours, 


M. W. Stirurne, Director. 
Dr. ALEXANDER WETMORE, 


Secretary, Smithsonian Institution. 
1 


PUBLISHER’S NOTE 


A separate edition is published of each paper in the series entitled ‘‘Anthro- 
pological Papers.’’ Copies of Papers 1-42 are available at the Bureau of American 
Ethnology, Smithsonian Institution, and can be had free upon request. 


List or ANTHROPOLOGICAL ParPEeRS PUBLISHED PREVIOUSLY 


No. 1. A Preliminary Report on Archeological Explorations at Macon, Ga., 
by A. R. Kelly. Bull. 119, pp. v-ix, 1-68, pls. 1-12, figs. 1-7. 1938. 

No. 2. The Northern Arapaho Flat Pipe and the Ceremony of Covering the 
Pipe, by John G. Carter. Bull. 119, pp. 69-102, figs. 8-10. 1938. 

No. 3. The Caribs of Dominica, by Douglas Taylor. Bull. 119, pp. 103-159, 
pls. 13-18, figs. 11-37. 1938. 

No. 4. What Happened to Green Bear Who Was Blessed with a Sacred Pack, 
by Truman Michelson. Bull. 119, pp. 161-176. 1938. 

No. 5. Lemhi Shoshoni Physical Therapy, by Julian H. Steward. Bull. 119, 
pp. 177-181. 1938. 

No. 6. Panatiibiji’, an Owens Valley Paiute, by Julian H. Steward. Bull. 119, 
pp. 183-195. 1938. 

No. 7. Archeological Investigations in the Corozal District of British Honduras, 
by Thomas and Mary Gann. Bull. 123, pp. vii—viii, 1-57, 61-66, pls. 
1-10, figs. 1-11. 1939. 

Report on Two Skulls from British Honduras, by A. J. E. Cave. Bull. 

123, pp. 59-60. 1939. 

No. 8. Linguistic Classification of Cree and Montagnais-Naskapi Dialects, by 
Truman Michelson. Bull. 123, pp. 67-95, fig. 12. 1939. 

No. 9. Sedelmayr’s Relacién of 1746. Translated and edited by Ronald L. 
Ives. Bull. 123, pp. 97-117. 1939. 

No. 10. Notes on the Creek Indians, by John R. Swanton. Bull. 123, pp. 119- 
159, figs. 138, 14. 1939. 

No. 11. The Yaruros of the Capanaparo River, Venezuela, by Vincenzo Petrullo. 
Bull. 123, pp. 161-290, pls. 11-25, figs. 15-27. 1939. 

No. 12. Archeology of Arauquin, by Vincenzo Petrullo. Bull. 123, pp. 291-295, 
pls. 26-32. 1939. 

No. 13. The Mining of Gems and Ornamental Stones by American Indians, by 
Sydney H. Ball. Bull. 128, pp. ix-xii, 1-78, pls. 1-5. 1941. 

No. 14. Iroquois Suicide: A Study in the Stability of a Culture Pattern, by 
William N. Fenten. Bull. 128, pp. 79-138, pls. 6-8. 1941. 

No. 15. Tonawanda Longhouse Ceremonies: Ninety Years after Lewis Henry 
Morgan, by William N. Fenton. Bull. 128, pp. 1389-166, pls. 9-18. 1941. 

No. 16. The Quichua-speaking Indians of the Province of Imbabura (Ecuador) 
and Their Anthropometric Relations with the Living Populations of 
the Andean Area, by John Gillin. Bull. 128, pp. 167-228, pls. 
19-29, figs. 1-2. 1941. 


Im 


elt. 


As: 


2 A9: 


. 20. 


pea Le 


. 22. 


20. 


. 24. 


. 25. 


. 26. 


Pate 


. 28. 


- 29. 


. 30. 


. 3i. 


=o. 


BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Buty 151] 


Art Processes in Birchbark of the River Desert Algonquin, a Circum- 
boreal Trait, by Frank G. Speck. Bull. 128, pp. 229-274, pls. 30-42, 
figs. 3-25. 1941. 

Archeological Reconnaissance of Southern Utah, by Julian H. Steward. 
Bull. 128, pp. 275-356, pls. 43-52, figs. 26-77. 1941. 

A Search for Songs among the Chitimacha Indians in Louisiana, by 
Frances Densmore. Bull. 133, pp. 1-15, pls. 1-4. 1942. 

Archeological Survey on the Northern Northwest Coast, by Philip 
Drucker; with Appendix, Early Vertebrate Fauna of the British 
Columbia Coast, by Edna M. Fisher. Bull. 133, pp. 17-142, pls. 5-9, 
figs. 1-33. 1943. 

Some Notes on a Few Sites in Beaufort County, South Carolina, by 
Regina Flannery. Bull. 133, pp. 143-153, figs. 34-35. 1943. 

An Analysis and Interpretation of the Ceramic Remains from Two Sites 
near Beaufort, South Carolina, by James B. Griffin. Bull. 133, pp. 
155-168, pls. 10-12. 1943. 

The Eastern Cherokees, by William Harlen Gilbert, Jr. Bull. 133, pp. 
169-413, pls. 13-17, figs. 36-55. 1943. 

Aconite Poison Whaling in Asia and America: An Aleutian Transfer to 
the New World, by Robert F. Heizer. Bull. 133, pp. 415-468, pls. 
18-23a, figs. 56-60. 1943. 

The Carrier Indians of the Bulkley River: Their Social and Religious 
Life, by Diamond Jenness. Bull. 133, pp. 469-586, pls. 24-34, figs. 
61-62. 1943. 

The Quipu and Peruvian Civilization, by John R. Swanton. Bull. 133, 
pp. 587-596. 1943. 

Music of the Indians of British Columbia, by Frances Densmore. Bull. 
136, pp. 1-100, pls. 1-9, figs. 1-2. 1943. 

Choctaw Music, by Frances Densmore. Bull. 136, pp. 101-188, pls. 
10-21, figs. 3-4. 1943. 

Some Ethnological Data Concerning One Hundred Yucatan Plants, by 
Morris Steggerda. Bull. 136, pp. 189-226, pls. 22-24. 1943. 

A Description of Thirty Towns in Yucatan, Mexico, by Morris Steggerda, 
Bull. 136, pp. 227-248, pls. 25-28. 1943. 

Some Western Shoshoni Myths, by Julian H. Steward. Bull. 136, pp. 
249-300, 1943. 

New Material from Acoma, by Leslie A. White. Bull. 136, pp. 301-360, 
pls. 29-32, fig. 5. 1943. 


No. 33. 


No. 34. 


CONTENTS 


“Of the Crow Nation,” by Edwin Thompson Denig, edited with 
biographical sketch and footnotes by John C. Ewers________-_- 
The Water Lily in Maya Art: A Complex of Alleged Asiatic Origin, 
yaitouert: lie hans << 28208 a= Be eo ee ek 


. The Medicine Bundles of the Florida Seminole and the Green 


Corn Dance, by. Louis: Capronsu 2... 52-35 ec en eeu 


. Technique in the Music of the American Indian, by Frances 


IDENSINORG Se ee ee nae ete a ee ee ee 


. The Belief of the Indian in a Connection between Song and the 


Supernatural, by Frances Densmore;..-.=.......=.5..-2s<- 


. Aboriginal Fish Poisons, by Robert F. Heizer_.._.._..__.----_-- 
. Aboriginal Navigation off the Coasts of Upper and Baja Cali- 


fornia, by Robert F. Heizer and William C. Massey_________- 


. Exploration of an Adena Mound at Natrium, West Virginia, by 


ECHO ASOLO IS eat eo es a SIND ee 


. The Wind River Shoshone Sun Dance, by D. B. Shimkin______- 
. Current Trends in the Wind River Shoshone Sun Dance, by Fred 


PAGE 


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ai ib ; Oni ipiall = ritie yo! asf pets 
- | ez. te te eed a a ass ct Lee Tae Tai; 
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} Yaa OA id je | oe 
rif 245 HT STUER ii Cresta Reron a nh hi ing “das 
Say es eee _ ideale: A telat 
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ILLUSTRATIONS 
PLATES 


(Ewers) 


pe Porrait of ndwin: Thompson, Denip 22.4... een 
exterior view of Fort Union,,Jsoe-—.-=.2-5-2-. 1 s- aoe cans 
) Fwo, Crows The-Younger,.a Crow Indian__._- --- gs 
. ‘The woman who lives in the Bear’s Den, her hair cut off, she being in 


PRUE PIs 8 ot ee oh it ee ge a ee ee ee 


. Crow Indian encampment, Little Big Horn River___-_-------------- 
. The voice of the Great Spirit. A scaffold burial on the Crow Reserva- 


MMI CRIOOMAROIG VINAUG= Soo. 2 en re ee a ee 
. Two Seminole Medicine Men. Left: Ingraham Billy, Medicine Man 


of the Tamiami Trail Seminole. Right: Sam Jones, long-time 
Medicine Man of the Cow Creek Seminole_____----------------- 


. Two Seminole Medicine Men. Left: John Osceola, Big Cypress Medi- 


cine Man at the 1949 Green Corn Dance. Right: Josie Billy, former 
Medicine Man of the Tamiami Trail Seminole_______------------ 


. Clan camp at the Green Corn Dance. Upper: Occupied clan camp. 


Lower: Clan camp between Corn Dances_-_---------------------- 


. Setting for the Green Corn Dance. Upper: The dance circle. Lower: 


Sweat-pathestones and! frameworks 22) 92s on ee ne eee 


. Views of the Green Corn Dance structure. Upper: The tchoc-ko 


thloc-ko, or “Big House.” Lower: Reserved seats for the Green 
Gorm Manca) 5. 10) swat enece Ale bole sea 


eTeoneormmmancentems (2° 2S eaiticc ) stl sedeli do 2 eee 
. Plants used in preparation of the Black Drink. Left: Herbs from the 


Black Drink. Right: Black Drink herbs and prayer reed_-------- 


. Items used in the Green Corn Dance. a, Scratcher. 6, Forked 


Medicine:stick.\ ¢} Score beard... sce). sysdediel.o.--t4 Lee 


(Heizer) 
Jivaronindians, poisoning fishes! secsil.» ee OE soseted) oo. 


. Jivaro Indians collecting stupefied fish.___._____------------------ 
. South American Indians poisoning fish, Fortaleza, near Yurimongas- - 
. Plantation of fish-poison plants, Fortaleza, near Yurimongas- -_------- 


(Heizer and Massey) 


Pea pavilion Tare OF bain Calnferniae 2222055. 22/2226 chee oe— oan ee 
. Balsa and double-bladed paddle in San Francisco Bay_-_------------ 


312 


VIII BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLt, 151 


(Solecki) 

PAGE 

24. Stages in the exploration of Natrium Mound and representative 
Mound features with associated artifacts._....-4---------------- 396 
25: Natrium Mound artifacts 22 -.2.. 2.222542 oe ee ee 396 
26: Natrium Mound ‘artifacts: 420 2 ee ee ee ee eee 396 
27--Natrium Mound artifacts)... 202222222 3262 eee 396 
28: Natrium Mound:artifacts. 2.22252 22 as ee eee 396 
29. Microstructure of cross sections of bead-_-.-.--..-----==2-==----22 396 

(Shimkin) 

30. Upper: Tom Compton, May 1937. Lower: The Sun Dance field, 
July 1 W087 eee ee ee 484 

31. Upper: Measuring radii to locate side-post holes from the center pole. 

July 3, 1937. Lower: Compton fixing the buffalo head on the 
center pole, and Tassitsie’painting it2-2 === 2222-22 eae eee 484 

82. Upper: How the rafters are raised. Lower: Getting ready to lift the 
center pole 02 ao) oe cee ce eee a ee 484 

33. Upper: Men putting up the side roof poles. Lower: The brush wall 
being finished 2.22 1052. 2h ee cork ee ee 484 

34. Upper: Before dawn. Orchestra and resting dancers. Lower: The 
daneers greet. the rising sun_—< - 2. 5... so 25-2 ee 484 

35. Upper: Another view of the dancers greeting the rising sun. Lower: 
AY third view ol the sunrise ceremony. = ae as ee 484 

36. Upper: The prayer songs around the fire. Lower: Details of the 
orchestra and spectators... .-._ oe .2-<6 o--.225-5=5- 52>) =e 484 
3%. Upper: Dancing. Lower: Tired. dancers_-2.-25---- 5-5 = ee 484 

TEXT FIGURES 
(Rands) 

1. a, Amaravati, India. 6, c, Palenque (Entries 78, 77). d, Chichen 
Itza (Entries 2526): 245. -2euds.. 2 see. ee eee 85 

2. a, Quirigua (Entry 104). 6, Copan (Entry 50). c¢, Chama (Entry 

204). d, e, Chichen Itza (Entries 22, 28). f, Yaxchilan (Entry 
152)st af atl ol. ert leet. ars eee eee 86 

3. a, Santa Rita (Entry 121). b,c, Tulum (Entries 129, 131). d, Yucatan 

(Entry 221). e, Chichen Itza (Entry 23). f, Quirigua (Entry 

118). g, Palenque (Entry 76). h, Dresden Codex (Entry 301). 
2; Likal (nutty l2a)se2-- cece cee Secaudvendeosaeon see 87 

4. a, b, Palenque (Entries 69, 91). c, Copan (Entry 44). d, Yucatan 


(Entries 219, 220). e, Chichen Itza (Monjas). f, Rio Hondo 
(Entry 214)... g, Kaminaljuyu (Entry 21) 22222 See 88 


. a, 1, Chichen Itza (Entries 35, 29). b, Rio Hondo (Entry 215). c, h, 


Palenque (Entries 71, 73). d, Quirigua (Entry 117). e, Chajcar 
(Entry 208). jf, g, Chama (Entries 203, 201)..-...-.------=5 89 


. a, Quirigua (Entry 111). 6, Copan (Entry 58). .c, Dresden Codex 


(Entry 310). d, La Amelia (Entry 68). e, Vase (Entry 222). f, 
Palenque (Entry 70). g, h, Chichen Itza (Entries 27, 24)-_---_-- 90 


ILLUSTRATIONS IX 


(Capron) PAGE 

peGreen Corn ance Prone Ye = ee ea ke oe acne coco eke 176 

SeGeound pian of Green Comm Dance: 2.222. cos Sac cose stesso e ss 179 

CeATTancementiOn ClanuCaMpss semanas ~ == = ee eee oa ea eon oe ne S 180 

OeArransement oisclan camps! =- 2. — 52 =e oo So oes Soe sees cee s 181 
(Heizer and Massey) 

11. Upper: Chumash paddle collected by Vancouver Expedition, 1793. 
Lower: Colnett’s sketch of a Coast Miwok balsa and paddle seen at 
ederar Baye W/O... 5 1) 5 lees SE eo nines eee 292 

Peaene Chumash. plank canoes =. 22 2iusc2s-see.c-ce tbs. -eceeeceee 301 

(Soleckz) 

fia. Map showing location of Natrium Mound -2.-[3" 235_..--.-.-=-- = 320 

14. Horizontal and vertical plans of Natrium Mound-_----------------- 321 

(seclxsvagesvim the moundlexcavatlone = 22.25.26 0 a2 4552 ea eee eee 323 

16. Cross section of the western profile of Natrium Mound on line W-1_--. 325 

17. Cross section of the eastern quadrant of Natrium Mound online N-9__ 328 

ie herdistrib ution of the mound features] 2525s —2 5 s-=—es— > eee eee 333 

19. The gray-soil and yellow-soil distribution in Natrium Mound-_--_----- 384 

(Shimkin) 
20. The lineage of Ohamagwaya or Yellow Hand__-.------------------ 412 
Pim Sum Dance layvoutwand: paraphernalian s 2! S55. Stes a 2 eee eae 452 
22nd aiver Shoshone Reservation... 2------.-_2-2..5----ss2ssse5 465 
PowehiconomiciGifferenceS=- ~ = s25-— 2s S25 aoe ee ee See cea ee 466 
24. Local differences on the Wind River Reservation___-..-._-.---------- 467 
Zoe ©ormelations betweeneinstitubiOns= 5-222 22-4 2-2-5 5—- 5) ose aaa 468 
MAPS 
(Ewers) 

MEHeHerow COumiry: [S00 s. u aoa one see sooo oats eee eee 21 
(Heizer) 

2 Nvorld cistribution.of fish poisoning... ....2.-.2.s2.--c22—---4eeenee= 244 

3. Distribution of fish poisoning in western North America__- ._-------- 251 

4. Distribution of fish-poison plants in western North America____------ 252 

(Hetzer and Massey) 
5. Distribution of boat and paddle types along the coasts of Upper and 


aime nnitornine fa. oo es eee ee eee oe 290 


. Distribution of boat types in the Santa Barbara Channel and adjoining 


NOTES Ng ore ee es nd ae Nee ed Ba eee eee 294 


. Distribution of the double-bladed paddle in the New World_--------- 305 


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SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 
Bureau of American Ethnology 
Bulletin 151 


Anthropological Papers, No. 33 


“Of the Crow Nation”’ 
By EDWIN THOMPSON DENIG 


Edited 
With biographical sketch and footnotes 
By Joun C. Ewers 


al 
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ha 
ae 
oa 
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Kae | s 
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ition 
— 
JR ry 


CONTENTS 


Introduction: The life and works of Edwin Thompson Denig----__------ 
“Of the Crow Nation,” by Edwin Thompson Denig__..._..._..__-___-- 


iraw Trelationsoip to the ENdatsa,. 222-25 ca.- neo eke ewes cee 
Wescriptron of the Crow ecountty. |. 222+. - 22 ssace-cces secce 
Population and major divisions. .5 22 225_-2- 8 2 te 
niiprenrienlerebiOns = 2-0 Ges) es LY ea ee ee ee 
eaicimen On WOTSes 48 jer Sees 9 es a I eh ee Ee 
Some characteristics of the Crow Indians_..........-....-..--+-<- 
Inograpny on Cuiel Rotten belly so = os) eee Se 
Oletrecdesamcdewar sa. cs 2 ko cee eee eo hee ek ey een ere ee 
Factors limiting increase of Crow population..__.____________------ 
Crowehermaphroditess: #202 Le tiet De Ae ee re Se ee ee ee 
ihesCrow tobacco-planting ceremony: .223.<. 22 2 22s 28 222 
W@hiefalone wait ae so oe a ee Sl 2 ee 
(hieipBioeROb bere see ress Ser an ee Cte hey pa oes 
IRrospecesttonintertmbalypeacen-. =2 = se eae ne ae ee ee ee 
Pete vhvvorm Woman biel 120-2 220 SN Swe Sod Wee ee eee eee 
Dangers encountered in the fur trade with the Crows____________-- 
Huture prospects of: the: Crow Indians. ..2s-. 22.22.2222 28. 8 io2 


TA SUIG SOD) b is ee ee I a aa eee Oe mR Ee © Reere a are ere a ers APO 


Boh 


ILLUSTRATIONS 
PLATES 


Pehorait of Hdwin Lhompson Wenige =. 028) see eee ee eee 
MmSXtenoraviewAon Hong, Union, IS520ss2e. © 2 ee 2 ee eee 
Eadwo Crows: Lhe: Younger, = Crow, Indian. 22.2. .Le_i os. 2 2b Ss0eSE 4S 


“The woman who lives in the Bear’s Den, her hair cut off, she being 
PRRMIGUEOIN Gs tieey 2 SS a re ee i ae ee 


. Crow Indian encampment, Little Big Horn River___.._-_----------- 
. The voice of the Great Spirit. A scaffold burial on the Crow Reserva- 


74 
74 
74 


74 
74 


74 


21 


INTRODUCTION 
THE LIFE AND WORKS OF EDWIN THOMPSON DENIG 


In North America the white man’s application of knowledge of 
Indian cultures to the solution of practical problems long antedated 
the development of ethnology as a profession. The first white men to 
seek knowledge of the Indian tribes of the Northern Great Plains were 
the fur traders. In order to gain a precarious foothold in that region, 
‘to establish and expand their business, it was imperative that they 
obtain not only a working knowledge of the Indian languages but 
also a fund of reliable, useful information on the locations and num- 
bers of the several tribes and of their major subdivisions, their seasonal 
movements, their basic economies, forms of government, intertribal 
relations, methods of making war, and social customs. A few of the 
more intelligent traders recognized that the information they had 
gathered on these subjects would be of interest to others, even to 
people far removed from the Indian country. Much of our present 
knowledge of the cultures of the Northern Plains Indians prior to 1850 
has been derived from the writings of these men. The names of 
several trader-writers readily come to mind—Pierre La Verendrye, 
Jean-Baptiste Trudeau, Pierre-Antoine Tabeau, Francois Larocque, 
Alexander Mackenzie, David Thompson, and the two Alexander 
Henrys. Each of these French or Canadian writers has made a 
substantial contribution to ethnology. The United States has pro- 
duced a single trader whose contributions to the ethnology of the 
Indian tribes of the Northern Plains are deserving of rank with 
those of the individuals mentioned. He was Edwin Thompson Denig. 

Edwin Thompson Denig was born in McConnellstown, Huntingdon 
County, Pa., March 10, 1812. He was the son of Dr. George Denig, 
a physician. The Denig family traced its descent from Herald 
Ericksen, a chieftain of the Danish island of Manoe in the North Sea. 
Although Denig’s writings show clearly that he was a man of better 
than average education for his time, nothing is known of his activities 
prior to his entrance into the fur trade at the age of 21. It is most 
probable that Alexander Culbertson, a native of nearby Chambers- 
burg, encouraged Denig to seek a career in the fur trade. Culbertson, 
3 years Denig’s senior, had gained some experience in the trade on 
St. Peter’s River prior to visiting his family in Pennsylvania in the 

5 


MAR 1° 1953 


6 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Burn 151 


summer of 1832. Denig joined Culbertson in the service of the 
American Fur Co. the following year. Records of that company, in 
the Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis, dated April 10, 1833, credit 
Edwin T. Denig with $400 for ‘Services ending 1 year from date.”’ 

It is noteworthy that Denig first traveled up the Missouri River in 
the same year, and possibly on the same steamboat, as did the noted 
German scientist-explorer, Maximilian, Prince of Wied-Neuwied, and 
Karl Bodmer, author and illustrator respectively of Travels in the 
Interior of North America, a work which for more than a century has 
been regarded as a basic source on the Indians of the Upper Missouri. 
For the German prince and his talented artist companion the trip 
offered an opportunity for a year’s adventure and observation in a 
strange and exciting environment. For Denig it marked the begin- 
ning of 23 years’ residence among the Indians of the Upper Missouri 
as a fur trader. Denig became one of many subordinates in the em- 
ploy of the American Fur Co. (which became Pratte, Chouteau & Co. 
in 1834, and continued under the firm name of Pierre Chouteau, Jr., 
& Co. after 1838). This was the principal firm engaged in the fur 
trade of the Upper Missouri. Its network of posts ranged upriver 
to the country of the Blackfoot near the Rockies and that of the 
Crow on the Yellowstone. 

Denig’s early years in the fur trade were spent in the country of the 
powerful Teton Dakota. On June 3, 1833, he wrote from Fort 
Pierre, the principal trading post in Teton country, ‘I will remain 
here this year’? (Denig-Sarpy letter, Missouri Hist. Soc.). Four 
letters from William Laidlaw, bourgeois of Fort Pierre, to Denig (in 
the same collections) indicate that Denig was in charge of a small 
winter trading house subordinate to Fort Pierre during the winter of 
1834-35. This house seems to have been located on Cherry River, 
a tributary of the Cheyenne, some sixty or more miles northwest of 
Fort Pierre. 

In the spring of 1837, Denig held the position of post bookkeeper 
at Fort Union on the Missouri near the mouth of the Yellowstone 
(Larpenteur, 1898, vol. 1, p. 122). In a letter to Jacob Halsey at 
Fort Pierre, dated March 25, 1837 (in Missouri Hist. Soc.), Denig 
stated that he was well satisfied with his position and much preferred 
Union to Pierre. This letter also revealed that he had followed the 
custom of many white traders in that region in taking an Indian wife, 
and that he was the father of a boy. When smallpox reached Fort 
Union that summer Denig became infected but recovered ‘‘favorably”’ 
(Larpenteur, 1898, vol. 1, p. 132). Years later he wrote two accounts 
of the terrible ravages of that plague among the Assiniboin, based 
upon his first-hand knowledge of the circumstances (Denig, 1930, 
pp. 399-400; Denig Mss., Missouri Hist. Soc., pp. 99-100). 


peers noe: PAP: OF THE CROW NATION—DENIG 7 


When John James Audubon, the noted artist-naturalist, visited 
Fort Union in the summer of 1843, Denig cheerfully assisted him in 
collecting bird and mammal specimens and helped him to obtain the 
head of an Indian chief from a tree burial near the fort. Denig 
enlivened Audubon’s stay with stories of Indians and animals of the 
region. At the naturalist’s request he wrote a description of Fort 
Union which has been published in Audubon and His Journals, 
volume 2, pages 180-188. Dated July 30, 1843, this is the earliest 
known example of Denig’s descriptive writing. It is also the most 
detailed description of the construction and use of that most important 
Indian trading post on the Upper Missouri to be found in the litera- 
ture. Denig stated that he was then in charge of the office of the fur 
company at Fort Union, a position comparable to that of chief clerk. 
His old friend Alexander Culbertson was Fort Union’s bourgeois at 
that time. 

Charles Larpenteur, a fellow subordinate in the service of the com- 
pany, criticized Denig severely for his love of liquor, mentioning an 
occasion in January 1844, when Denig was unable to make a trip to 
Woody Mountain to trade for robes with the Cree and Chippewa 
because he had imbibed too freely (Larpenteur, 1898, vol. 1, pp. 162, 
184-186). Drinking was common among field employees of the com- 
pany, forced to spend long, monotonous winters at isolated posts in 
the cold north country. Denig was no teetotaler. In a letter to 
Alexander Culbertson, dated December 1, 1849, he wrote, “I would 
also request as a great favor if you will bring me up a keg say 5 galls 
of good old Rye, to have the pleasure of drinking your health occa- 
sionally. I can hardly look upon myself as the infernal drunkard 
represented and presume as no accident happened to the 2 g'. keg of 
last spring, the 5 g'. keg will be equally safe.’ In the same letter 
Denig reported, ‘“‘Next year after the post has been thoroughly purged 
of all superfluities In a trade of 400 packs, I shall clear 6000$ if 500 
packs are traded 9000$ will be the profit . . . you can assure yourself 
of my showing a neat Balance to our credit” (Letter in Missouri Hist. 
Soc.). This was the kind of report on Denig’s activities that the 
company preferred to take seriously. 

In the spring of 1847, Larpenteur (1898, vol. 1, p. 250) had referred 
to Denig as ‘the clerk at Fort Union.” Denig’s letter to Culbertson, 
quoted above, indicates that he was promoted to the position of 
bourgeois in charge of Fort Union before the winter of 1849-50. 
Fort Union not only was ‘‘the principal and handsomest trading post 
on the Missouri River,” as Denig himself termed it; it was also the 
company’s key point in its control of the Indian trade of the Upper 
Missouri. ‘There the Assiniboin, Plains Cree, some Crow, and Chip- 


909871—53——2 


8 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL 151 


pewa Indians traded. From Fort Union employees, trade goods and 
supplies were dispatched to the upriver Blackfoot and Crow posts, 
and to it came their returns of furs and skins in the spring for reship- 
ment downriver to St. Louis. No field employee of the company 
then held a more responsible position than did Denig, except for his 
friend Alexander Culbertson, who had been promoted to general 
supervisor of all the company’s posts on the Upper Missouri. 

Denig again rendered valuable services to naturalists during the 
winter of 1849-50. At the request of Alexander Culbertson, and with 
the assistance of Ferdinand Culbertson, Denig prepared skins and 
skulls of birds and mammals of the Upper Missouri for use in scientific 
study. On December 1, 1849, he wrote A. Culbertson: ‘I am pro- 
gressing with my specimens of animals for you as I have said I would 
& have already prepared the White Wolf, the Beavers, the War Eagle, 
the Caputi Argali or Antelopes head, and sundry other smaller mat- 
ters which will be in order to put into every museum you think 
propper” (Letter in Missouri Hist. Soc.). The following June Thad- 
deus Culbertson, Alexander’s brother, visited Fort Union. His 
Journal, under date of June 17, comments: ‘‘We were received very 
kindly by the gentlemen of the post, Mr. E. T. Denig and Ferdinand 
Culbertson. They showed me quite a good collection of stuffed skins 
made by them for Professor Baird, at the request of my brother. 
This must have cost them a great deal of labor and considerable 
expense, and they deserve many thanks from the students of natural 
history for whose benefit this collection was made”’ (Culbertson, 1851, 
p. 121). Thaddeus Culbertson brought back many, if not all, of 
these specimens for the collections of the Smithsonian Institution, 
which was then only in the fourth year of its existence. The earliest 
accession book of the division of mammals of the United States 
National Museum records specimens from Fort Union received from 
“RH. T. Denig and A. Culbertson.” A few of them are specifically 
indicated as ‘‘Prepared by Denig.’’ Several other specimens, listed 
as collected by Thaddeus Culbertson at Fort Union, may have been 
prepared by Denig also. In toto these specimens include skins of the 
wolverine, plains wolf, lynx, beaver, mountain sheep, antelope, white- 
tailed jack rabbit, and grizzly bear; the head of a bison; and skulls of 
elk, mule deer, and bison. Thus in 1850 the Smithsonian Institution 
acquired an extensive representation of the mammals of the Upper 
Missouri as a direct result of the interest and labors of Denig and the 
Culbertsons. 

Father Pierre Jean De Smet, noted missionary to the Indians of the 
Northwest, spent more than 2 weeks at Fort Union in the summer of 
1851. He found in Denig a man who knew the Upper Missouri tribes 
well and who was sympathetic toward them. Between the famous 


ANTHRO. Par. «OF ‘THE CROW NATION—DENIG 9 


Catholic priest and Denig, who was Swedenborgian in his beliefs, a 
firm friendship developed that endured for the remainder of Denig’s 
life. It is likely that during this visit to Fort Union De Smet en- 
couraged Denig to write for him a number of sketches of the manners 
and customs of the Assiniboin and neighboring tribes. Apparently 
Denig lost little time in initiating the project, for in September of 
the same year Kurz observed that Denig was recording “stories” of 
“Indian legends and usages” for ““Pére De Smet”’ (Kurz, 1937, p. 133). 

We may never know the full extent of Denig’s writings for Father 
DeSmet. However, it is possible to trace some of them with precision 
through the published correspondence of the priest. De Smet ex- 
pressed his “gratitude for the manuscript you have had the kindness 
to prepare for me, and which [ shall be most glad to receive and 
peruse,” in a letter to Denig written in May 1852. By the next fall 
the priest had received the manuscript. On September 30 he wrote 
thanking Denig profusely for “your very interesting series of narra- 
tives . . . I have read the present series with absorbing attention 
and growing interest. My imagination has often carried me back to 
scenes long familiar to my experience and to others of a general and 
kindred nature which your pen has so well portrayed, in your valuable 
descriptions of their religious opinion, of their great buffalo hunt, their 
war expeditions, and in the histories of old Gauche and of the family 
of Gros Frangois’”’ (Chittenden and Richardson, 1905, vol. 4, pp. 
1215-1216, 1482). 

Father De Smet incorporated much of Denig’s information in a 
series of letters to Father Terwecoren, editor of the Précis Historiques, 
Brussels, Belgium. These letters were reprinted in English in the 
book ‘‘Western Missions and Missionaries: A Series of Letters by 
Rev. P. J. De Smet,” published in New York City in 1863. Letters 
X through XIII, comprising pages 134-205 of that volume, deal in 
turn with ‘Religious Opinions of the Assiniboins,” ‘‘Indian Hunts,”’ 
“Indian Warfare,” and ‘‘Tchatka”’ (a biographical sketch of old 
Gauche). In the thirteenth letter, Father De Smet acknowledged 
his debt to Denig. “I cite the authority of Mr. Denig, an intimate 
friend, and a man of high probity, from whom I have received all 
the information that I have offered you concerning the Assiniboins, 
and who resided among them during twenty-two years.” Denig’s 
account of the family of Le Gros Frangois (acknowledged in the priest’s 
letter of September 30, 1852, quoted above) was not published in 
De Smet’s lifetime. Father De Smet recorded the story in longhand 
in the Linton Album, from which source it was obtained for publica- 
tion in Chittenden and Richardson’s Life, Letters, and Travels of 
Father Pierre Jean De Smet (1905, vol. 3, pp. 118-124). 

Rudolph Kurz, a young Swiss artist, possessed of a burning desire 


10 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLL. 151 


to sketch and paint wild Indians in their home environment, spent 7 
months at Fort Union, from September 4, 1851, to April 11, 1852. 
The Journal of Rudolph Friederich Kurz, published by the Bureau 
of American Ethnology in 1937, contains a vivid account of life at 
Fort Union during that period. Frequent references to Denig in this 
journal provide an insight into his character that cannot be found in 
Denig’s own, very impersonal writings. 

Before his arrival at Fort Union, Denig had been represented to 
Kurz by a former, dissatisfied employee as a “hard man, liked by no- 
body . . . keeps two Indian wives . . . squanders all he has on 
them; begrudges anything paid the employees, oppresses the engagees 
with too much work, is never satisfied, etc.”” (Kurz, 1937, p. 101). 

On first meeting Denig, Kurz described him as— 


a small, hard featured man wearing a straw hat, the brim of which was turned 
back . . . He impressed me as a very prosy fellow. He stopped Bellange [Kurz’ 
traveling companion from Fort Berthold to Union] short, just as the latter was 
beginning a long story he wished to tell; on the other hand, he ordered supper 
delayed on our account that we might have a better and more plentiful meal. 
A bell summoned me to the first table with Mr. Denig and the clerks. My eyes 
almost ran over with tears! There was chocolate, milk, butter, omelet, fresh 
meat, hot bread—what a magnificent spread! I changed my opinion at once 
concerning this new chief; a hard, niggardly person could not have reconciled him- 
self to such a hospitable reception in behalf of a subordinate who was a total 
stranger to him. [Kurz, 1937, p. 120.] 


It is apparent, however, from Kurz’ later observations, that Denig 
exercised an authority over his men that would have been the admira- 
tion of his seafaring Danish ancestors. Denig’s crew of some 50 men 
included workmen of a score of nationalities, many of whom were 
neither skilled nor ambitious. He kept them “strictly under his 
thumb.” When they worked satisfactorily he offered some diversion 
for all of them. If they shirked, he limited their victuals. He ex- 
pected his clerks, as good petty officers, to give him moral and, if 
need be, physical support in handling his men. He insisted on econ- 
omy and efficiency on the part of his clerks to keep the overhead at 
a minimum. 

Kurz observed that Denig had risen to his position of command as 
a result of “his commercial knowledge, his shrewdness, and his courage 
at the posts where he was earlier employed” (Kurz, 1937, p. 123). As 
a successful trader he also had to gain and hold the friendship of the 
Indians. Kurz learned that Denig had ‘“‘made a thorough study of 
Indian life—a distinct advantage to him in trade” (Kurz, 1937, p. 126). 
But it was not enough for him to know the Indian languages, their 
manners, and customs. He must conduct himself in such a way as 
to win their respect. Denig believed most Indians esteemed white 
men for those talents they did not possess themselves; that though he 


Se is OF THE CROW NATION—DENIG 11 


had a keen eye and was a sure shot, the Indians would never admire 
him for his hunting ability. He thought white men who adopted 
Indian dress and tried to follow Indian customs only succeeded in 
degrading themselves in the eyes of the Indians. Although Denig 
had two Indian wives, he encouraged them to live as much like white 
women as was possible in the Indian country. Records of Denig’s 
purchases from the company (in the Missouri Hist. Soc.) tell of his 
importation of fine clothes for his wives and children, fancy foods for 
his table, candy and toys for his children. He kept up with the news 
and thought of the day by reading newspapers and books on philos- 
ophy and religion brought upriver from St. Louis. Edwin T. Denig 
was far removed from the crude hunter-trapper-trader stereotype of 
fiction. His way of life undoubtedly helped him to maintain the 
high degree of objectivity toward Indian cultures evidenced in his 
writings. 

In his long conversations with Kurz, recorded in the latter’s Journal, 
Denig revealed a very limited appreciation of art, but a lively interest 
in religion and morals, about which he expressed very definite opinions. 
One evening Denig came round to the subject of love. ‘‘Love—damn 
the word !—is a madness in the brain; a contagious disease, like small- 
pox or measles. I would rather have a dose of epsom salts than to 
recall the folly of first love—pure love. If it is not stopped, that 
lunacy makes one ridiculous, childish, ashamed of himself.” Kurz, a 
confirmed romanticist, probably swallowed hard before adding the 
following sentence to his diary. ‘“There is always something true and 
worth while in what he says, only he expresses himself in strong 
language” (Kurz, 1937, p. 180). 

Much of their conversation concerned the Indians in whom both 
men were interested. Denig enjoyed telling the young artist stories 
of his experiences among the Indians, of Indian customs and personal- 
ities. Denig also read to Kurz from the manuscript he was preparing 
for Father De Smet and told him of his concern for the future of the 
Indians. Denig went out of his way to give Kurz opportunities to 
meet Indian chiefs and outstanding warriors who visited the fort, 
to attend councils he held with these Indian leaders, to obtain Indian 
artifacts and animal specimens for his collections, and to study the 
wildlife of the plains in the field. Denig seemed to have been as eager 
to help this unknown Swiss artist.as he had been to aid the famous 
Audubon and Father De Smet. 

In the middle of the century Henry R. Schoolcraft, of the Office of 
Indian Affairs in Washington, was busy collecting information on the 
Indians of the United States for historical, anthropological, and 
administrative purposes. To students of the Indians and to indi- 
viduals who had traveled extensively or lived in the Indian country 


12 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Buin 151 


he sent copies of a printed circular of ‘Inquiries Respecting the His- 
tory, Present Condition, and Future Prospects of the Indian Tribes 
of the United States.’”? One of these circulars reached Denig at Fort 
Union. Cooperative, as he had always been in furnishing information 
about Indians to earnest inquirers, Denig systematically set about 
assembling data for Schoolcraft. He submitted an Assiniboin vocab- 
ulary of more than 400 words which Schoolcraft published (1854) in 
the fourth volume (pp. 416-422) of his imposing six-volume compila- 
tion, ‘‘Historical and Statistical Information Respecting the History, 
Condition and Prospects of the Indian Tribes of the United States.” 
Eight years later F. V. Hayden referrcd to this as “the most important 
vocabulary of the language’”’ of the Assiniboin “‘prepared by Mr. E. T. 
Denig, an intelligent trader’? (Hayden, 1862, p. 381). 

Denig also painstakingly prepared answers to the 348 questions 
regarding Indian cultures asked in Schoolcraft’s circular. His reply 
was made in the form of a ‘“‘Report to Hon. Isaac I. Stevens, Governor 
of Washington Territory, on the Indian Tribes of the Upper Missouri, 
by Edwin Thompson Denig.” This was a manuscript of 451 pages. 
In his letter of transmittal Denig gave an indication of his research 
methods. He had not been content merely to draw upon his knowl- 
edge of the Indians obtained through long association with and obser- 
vation of them. He had pursued ‘the different subjects . . .in 
company with the Indians for an entire year, until satisfactory 
answers had been obtained and their motives of speech or action well 
understood before placing the same as a guide and instruction to 
others.’”’ Internal evidence in the manuscript itself and a statement 
in the letter of transmittal to Governor Stevens referring to the 
author’s ‘constant residence of 21 years among the prairie tribes” 
attest that the manuscript was completed in 1854. This report 
remained in manuscript form for 76 years. It was published in the 
Forty-sixth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology 
in 1930. Although, as its published title (Indian Tribes of the Upper 
Missouri) implies, the work was intended to cover all the tribes of the 
region from the Dakota to the Crow and Blackfoot, the wealth of 
detailed information presented refers primarily to the Assiniboin. 
Much of the material on the other tribes takes the form of brief 
comparative statements. As it stands, Denig’s Indian Tribes of the 
Upper Missouri certainly is the most detailed and important descrip- 
tion of Assiniboin Indian culture in midnineteenth-century buffalo 
days known to ethnology. 

By 1854, Denig had resided continuously in the Indian country for 
21 years, except for one brief visit to his relatives in the States in the 
summer of 1845. His diligence and ability had brought him success 
as a fur trader. He held partnership in the company, receiving one 


ee tea OF THE CROW NATION—DENIG 13 


twenty-fourth of its profits from the trade. Yet in a letter to Bishop 
Miege, written September 1, 1854, he revealed his intention ‘‘to 
leave this country in a year or two” (Letter in Archives of Missouri 
Province Educational Institute, St. Louis). This decision was based 
primarily on his consideration for the welfare of his children. There 
were no schools in the Upper Missouri country. Denig had sent his 
eldest son, Robert, to Chicago to be educated (Kurz, 1937, p. 136). 
But he now had three other children to be considered—Sarah (born 
August 10, 1844), Alexander (born May 17, 1852), and Ida (born 
August 22, 1854). 

In the summer of 1855, Denig took his Assiniboin wife, Deer Little 
Woman, and his mixed-blood children to visit his brother, Augustus, 
in Columbus, Ohio. In St. Louis en route Denig and Deer Little 
Woman were formally married by Father Daemen. Their children 
were baptized while in that city. Denig’s daughter Sarah recalled 
that the family found the climate in Columbus too warm for them. 
Otherwise they might have settled there. Instead they returned to 
Fort Union by a roundabout route, traveling from St. Louis to St. 
Paul and the Red River Settlement of present Manitoba by horse and 
wagon. Throughout this journey Denig was searching for a suitable 
future home for his family. The party reached Fort Union on 
November 28, 1855, after a wagon trip of nearly 3 months’ duration. 
Much of the route passed through unsettled Indian country (Montana 
Hist. Soc. Contr., vol. 10, p. 151, 1940). 

The Denigs spent the winter at Fort Union. In the middle of the 
following summer the family moved to the Red River Settlement in 
Canada. Denig received a payment from P. Chouteau, Jr., & Co. at 
Fort Union on July 13, 1856 (Company Records in Missouri Hist. 
Soc.). His will, dated September 12, 1856, at Red River Settlement, 
Red River of the North, must have been drawn up shortly after the 
family’s arrival there. Very little is known of Denig’s life in Canada 
during the next 4 years. He placed Sarah and Alexander in Catholic 
schools. He is said to have ‘‘established himself as a private trader 
on the White Horse Plains west of the present city of Winnipeg” 
(Vickers, 1948, p. 136). His friend De Smet wrote him January 13, 
1858, “I rejoice greatly at your success and in the welfare of your 
children” (Chittenden and Richardson, 1905, vol. 4, p. 1499). 

Late in the summer of 1858, Edwin T. Denig was stricken with an 
inflammation. His daughter Sarah believed it was appendicitis. 
He died on the White Horse Plains, September 4, 1858, and was buried 
in the Anglican cemetery near the present village of Headingly, 
Manitoba (Vickers, 1948, p. 136). He was only 46 years of age at the 
time of his death. 

Edwin T. Denig’s close friend and long-time colleague in the fur 


14 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL 151 


trade of the Upper Missouri, Alexander Culbertson, survived Denig by 
21 years. Prior to 1936, the Missouri Historical Society of St. Louis 
purchased from A. C. Roberts, of Spokane, Wash., a collection of 
manuscript materials dealing with several Indian tribes of the Upper 
Missouri. Mr. Roberts stated that this collection had been in the 
possession of his recently deceased mother, Julia Culbertson Roberts, 
who in turn received it from her father, Alexander Culbertson. The 
writings bore internal evidence of composition in 1855 and 1856, but 
their authorship was not known. In the archives of the Missouri 
Historical Society this material became known as the Culbertson 
manuscript. 

Early in February 1949, this editor saw and read parts of the Cul- 
bertson manuscript in the Missouri Historical Society. He was 
impressed with its historical and ethnological significance. It appeared 
to him that the author’s style, as well as some of the specific informa- 
tion in the manuscript, resembled closely that of Edwin T. Denig’s 
published work, Indian Tribes of the Upper Missouri. Upon request, 
the Bureau of American Ethnology kindly furnished this editor an 
example of Denig’s known handwriting in the form of photographs 
of his handwritten will, executed September 12, 1856, which he was 
able to compare with the writing in the Missouri Historical Society 
manuscript early in March of the same year. Similarities between the 
handwriting of the two documents appeared so marked as to justify 
obtaining the opinion of handwriting experts. Accordingly, photostats 
of pages of the manuscript together with photographs of the will were 
submitted to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. On April 15, 1949, 
handwriting experts of the FBI Laboratory, Washington, D. C., 
reported their conclusion that the handwriting of the two documents 
was by the same individual. Thus, nearly a century after it was 
written, an important Denig manuscript was discovered. 

This Denig manuscript comprises a portion of the text for a book 
of extensive proportions. The manuscript is in two parts. Although 
the pages of one part are numbered 1 to 153 in pencil, pages 61 to 92 
are missing. Present are chapter 1 (pp. 1-10), comprising the author’s 
introduction; chapters 2 and 3 (pp. 11-44) entitled ‘‘Of the Sioux’’; 
chapter 4 (pp. 45-59) entitled ‘“‘Of the Arickaras’’; the latter and 
undoubtedly the greater part of chapter 6 (pp. 93-120), comprising a 
description of the Assiniboin; and chapters 7 and 8 (pp. 121-153) 
entitled ‘Of the Crees or Knisteneau.’’ It is probable that the missing 
chapter 5 described the Mandan and/or Hidatsa. The second part 
entitled “Of the Crow Nation” is separately paged (pp. 1-75). How- 
ever, there can be little doubt that this was intended as a later chapter 
in the same book. 


coe ee OF THE CROW NATION—DENIG 15 


In his opening chapter Denig clearly states the purpose of his book: 


It would be well for the public if everyone who undertook to write a book was 
thoroughly acquainted with the subject of which he treats, but unfortunately this 
is not the case—authors spring up everywhere, and the community is saddled with 
an immense effusion of literature, the greater part of which when divested of the 
writer’s own fancies and feelings, and submitted to the test of truth and experi- 
ence, amounts to nothing. This is particularly the case in most of the works pur- 
porting to describe the actual life and intellectual capacity of the Indians of North 
America; much evil has been the consequence of error thus introduced, bad feelings 
engendered, and unwise legislation enforced, which will continue until our rulers 
are enlightened as to the real state of their Government, character, organization, 
manners and customs, and social position. Most information extant on these 
heads has been published by transient visitors amongst the tribes, travelers 
through a portion of their country, or collected from rude and half-civilized inter- 
preters whose knowledge is but a degree in advance of their savage parents, and 
also impose upon their credulous hearers tales of fiction mingled with some cere- 
monies; which with a hastily collected and ill-digested mass of information form the 
basis of works by which the public are deceived as to the real state of the Indians. 
Even foreigners who have possibly passed a winter at some of the trading posts in 
the country, seen an Indian dance or two or a buffalo chase, return home, enlighten 
Europe if not America with regard to Indian character; which is only the product 
of their own brains and takes its color from the peculiar nature of that organ. 
Hence we find two sets of writers both equally wrong, one setting forth the Indians 
as a noble, generous, and chivalrous race far above the standard of Europeans, the 
other representing them below the level of the brute creation. People cannot form 
an opinion in this way—a correct knowledge of any nation, and more particularly 
of a savage one, must be and only is attained by being as it were raised in their 
camps, entering into their feelings and occupations, understanding their language, 
studying their minds and motives, and being thoroughly acquainted with their 
government, customs, and capacities. 

Of the few traders who reside in the Upper Missouri territory, but a small 
portion have had the advantage of education, and these are so variously and con- 
stantly occupied as not to be disposed to apply their talents to writing histories, 
indeed it has been their policy to keep people in ignorance as to the trade and 
real disposition of the Indians, thereby preventing competition and discouraging 
visitors, both of which greatly militate against their interests. Neither do the 
gentlemen at the head of the Indian trade desire on all occasions to advance their 
opinions to persons who cannot, or will not, appreciate them.—Truth, though 
mighty, will not at all times prevail, although stranger than fiction, cannot be 
realized. The strange sights and occurrences incident to the country, be they ever so 
truthfully described, are rejected by previously formed opinion, and the narrator 
stigmatized, even in the mildest language he could expect, as a teller of strange 
stories. The author of these pages feels this in the commencement but cares little 
about it, having set out with the determination to present facts in as true a light 
as his powers admit, and with the experience of 22 years amongst the Indians, 
speaking their language, and having been placed in every possible position that 
men can be amongst them, presumes his opinions are entitled to respect. 


Denig’s first concern seems to have been with setting the record 
straight regarding the ethnology of the Upper Missouri tribes. He 
does not name those individuals who were the objects of his caustic 
jibes in the first paragraph quoted above. There can be little doubt, 


16 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLy. 151 


however, that they were aimed primarily at George Catlin and Prince 
Maximilian, whose books, published a decade earlier, had gained wide 
circulation. Doubtless Denig was familiar with them. Indian-loving 
Catlin had spent 86 days on the Upper Missouri from Fort Pierre 
northward in the summer of 1832. Maximilian passed the greater 
part of a year on the Upper Missouri in 1833-34, wintering among the 
Mandan. In his criticism of those writers Denig revealed the com- 
mon disdain of the old hand for the greenhorn. In the case of Maxi- 
milian, certainly, this strong criticism does not appear to be justified. 

In the letter of transmittal accompanying his Indian Tribes of the 
Upper Missouri, Denig had expressed his dissatisfaction with his 
organization of that report, due to the limitations imposed upon it by 
the nature of the questions asked by Schoolcraft and which he 
attempted to answer (Denig, 1930, p. 393). In his book he sought to 
remedy that defect by adopting a new, carefully planned organization 
of his data. He explained this plan in his introductory chapter as 
follows: 

The plan intended to be pursued in these pages, that the reader may under- 
stand the different traits of Indian character without difficulty or confusion, is, 
first, to give a short history of each tribe, its geographical position and other 
peculiarities; after which an inquiry will be instituted into their government, 
condition, manners, and customs as a body. Most customs and opinions are com- 
mon to all the tribes, but wherever any great difference is observable, or marked 
traits to be noticed, they will be found in the compendiums of their separate 
histories. This is necessary to avoid the constant repetition that would follow if 
detailed accounts of each tribe were presented. 

The Indians of the Upper Missouri territory may be divided into two classes, 
the roving and the stationary tribes—the former comprising the Sioux, Crows, 
Assiniboines, Crees, and Blackfeet, the latter, the Grosventres, Mandans, and 
Arikaras. My object is to show the state of these Indians in former times, what 
their present condition and what circumstances have tended toward their general 
advancement or decline; and after a general and minute research into all their 
motives, acts, religion, government, and ceremonies, conclude with a history of the 
American fur trade embodying many statements of various matters incident to the 
lives of trappers and traders. 


This was an ambitious program of research and writing. Doubtless 
Denig was unable to complete it before his death. Certainly the 
manuscript in the Missouri Historical Society contains no descriptions 
of the Blackfoot, Grosventres (Hidatsa), or Mandan; no general 
description of the common factors in the cultures of the Upper Missouri 
tribes; and no history of the fur trade such as he promised in his 
introductory chapter. If Denig wrote chapters dealing with all or 
any of these topics those portions of his manuscript either have been 
destroyed or their present locations are not known. 

Charles van Ravenswaay, director of the Missouri Historical 
Society, has kindly permitted this editor to make a typed copy of 


wale OF THE CROW NATION—DENIG 17 


the entire manuscript in the collections of that Society. Selected 
chapters have been and are being edited for publication by the 
Missouri Historical Society. Mr. van Ravenswaay has granted per- 
mission to the Smithsonian Institution to publish Denig’s description 
of the Crow Indians. 

“Of the Crow Nation,” from internal evidence, was written in the 
winter of 1856. It is the last known writing by Edwin T. Denig in 
the field of ethnology. In accordance with the plan for his volume, 
Denig did not intend this as a detailed description of Crow culture. 
Rather it stresses those aspects of the history and culture of that 
tribe that were unique or more highly specialized among the Crow 
than among neighboring tribes. The sources of Denig’s information 
on the Crow are not revealed in his writings. We do not know the 
extent to which Denig traveled in Crow country. It is certain, 
however, that he met fractions of that tribe repeatedly over a period 
of two decades when they came to trade at Fort Union. Undoubtedly 
he also received considerable information on the Crow from Robert 
Meldrum and other employees of Pierre Chouteau, Jr., & Co., who 
had lived many years with the Crow as traders. Denig’s frequent 
errors in dating events suggest that he wrote from memory rather 
than from a journal or diary maintained over the years, and that he 
had a poor memory for dates. Some of the events he described may 
have become somewhat distorted through years of verbal retelling 
prior to the time he first recorded them in writing. Denig was not an 
infallible authority. However, he was an objective observer of the 
Indian tribes of his acquaintance. His long experience among the 
Indians enabled him to distinguish significant differences as well as 
basic similarities among neighboring tribes of the same culture area. 
He knew Indians well enough to view them as human beings rather 
than noble redskins or inhuman brutes. In “Of the Crow Nation” 
Denig has written one of the most valuable descriptions of Crow 
Indian culture in nineteenth-century buffalo days known to ethnology. 
In many respects this account substantiates and elaborates previously 
published descriptions of that tribe. It also contains significant data 
on Crow history, biography, and culture that cannot be found in any 
other source. 

To experienced students of the Indians of the Northern Plains the 
opening pages of “Of the Crow Nation” should have a familiar ring. 
They have been published, but not under Denig’s name. In 1862, 
the noted geologist, F. V. Hayden, published “On the Ethnography 
and Philology of the Indian Tribes of the Upper Missouri.’”’ In the 
introduction to that work Hayden stated: 


In all my researches in the Northwest, most important aid has been rendered 
to me by different members of the American Fur Company. All their stores of 


18 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY {BULL 151 


knowledge of Indian life, language, and character, which they had acquired by 
years of intercourse with the different tribes, were freely imparted to me, only 
a small portion of which is given in the following pages. I am especially indebted 
to Mr. Alexander Culbertson, the well-known agent of the American Fur Com- 
pany, who has spent thirty years of his life among the wild tribes of the North- 
west, and speaks several of their languages with great ease. To Mr. Andrew 
Dawson, Superintendent of Fort Union, Mr. Charles E. Galpin, of Fort Pierre, 
and E. T. Denig, of Fort Union, Iam under great obligations for assistance freely 
granted at all times. [Hayden, 1862, p. 234.] 


Inclusion of Denig’s name in this list is no true measure of Hayden’s 
obligation to him. Page after page of Hayden’s descriptions of the 
Sioux, Arikara, Assiniboin, Plains Cree, and Crow tribes are nearly 
verbatim renderings of portions of the Denig manuscript in the 
Missouri Historical Society. It seems most probable that Alexander 
Culbertson either lent Hayden this manuscript or provided him 
with an exact copy of it after Denig’s death. This may account for 
Hayden’s emphasis on his debt to Culbertson. In justice to Denig 
we should now recognize that he was the author of a very large portion 
of the descriptive material in Hayden’s publication. Hayden’s entire 
description of the Crow, comprising pages 391-394 of his 1862 work, 
is but an edited version of the early pages of Denig’s ‘‘Of the Crow 
Nation.” At the conclusion of that description Hayden wrote: 

I have before me the materials for an extended sketch of the manners and 
customs, together with biographical sketches of the principal chiefs of this tribe, 
but, as they will doubtless appear in a future work now in course of preparation, 


I shall close with a brief notice of the different vocabularies of the Crow language 
which have been published from time to time. [Hayden, 1862, p. 394.] 


There can be little doubt that the ‘‘materials’’ Hayden referred to 
was Denig’s mauscript, ‘“‘Of the Crow Nation.” It is here published 
in full for the first time.* 

The sectional subtitles have been supplied by the editor for the 
convenience of the reader. 

Joun C. Ewers. 


*The editor is grateful to Mrs. Frances R. Biese, Archivist, Missouri Historical Society, for her kind 
assistance in locating pertinent data on Denig’s life on the Upper Missouri, 1833-56, in the correspondence 
and records of the American Fur Co. and its successors in the library of that Society. He is indebted to 
Robert L. Denig, Brigadier General United States Marine Corps (Retired), of Virginia Beach, Va., for the 
opportunity to read letters from Denig’s daughters regarding events of the last 3 years of his life; and to 
Father Louis J. Hanlon, S. J., Missouri Province Educational Institute, St. Louis, for furnishing a photo- 
static copy of Denig’s letter to Bishop Miege in the archives of that institute. It was Chris Vickers, of 
Baldur, Manitoba, who furnished the Bureau of American Ethnology a photostatic copy of Denig’s original 
will which aided the identification of the authorship of the Denig manuscript. 


“OF THE CROW NATION” 


By Epwin THompson Denia 


CROW RELATIONSHIP TO THE HIDATSA 


These people were once a part of the Minnetarees or Gros Ventres, 
with whose history the reader has already been made acquainted.! 
They resided with them, they say, at different places along the banks 
of the Missouri, where the remains of dirt villages are still to be found. 
But about 80 years since a quarrel arose which divided them. The 
cause of the division was this. The nation was governed by two 
factions each headed by a separate chief, both of whom were desperate 
men, and nearly equal in the number of their followers. Jealous of 
each other and striving after supreme command, many difficulties 
and differences arose from time to time, ’tho they never had proceeded 
to extremes on these occasions, there being always a sufficient number 
of wise heads and good hearts to quell such disturbances. But this 
course of things could not possibly last. Therefore, at a hunt where 
both chiefs were present with their followers, and a great many buffalo 
had been killed, the wives of the two leaders quarreled about the 
manifolds or upper stomach of one of the cows. From words they 
came to blows, from blows to knives, in which scuffle one of the women 
killed the other. The relations on both sides took part. The nation 
armed, each headed by one of the above-named chiefs, anda sharp 
skirmish ensued in which several were killed on both sides. The re- 
sult was that about one-half left those on the Missouri and migrated 
to the Rocky Mountains, through which wild and extensive region 


® 1 There is no chapter on the Hidatsa in the Denig manuscript in the Missouri Historical Society, St. 
Louis. Denig’s description of the Hidatsa may have appeared on some of the pages missing from the man- 
uscript. 


19 


20 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 151 


they continue to rove.? Why they are called Crows we cannot say. 
The word Ap sar roo kai, which is the name they give themselves in 
their own language, does not mean a crow more than any other kind 
of bird, the interpretation being simply anything that flies? The 
language of the Crows has undergone some change since their separa- 
tion from the Gros Ventres, though enough resemblance remains to 
identify them as the same people. They have little or no difficulty 
in conversing with each other. This difference of dialect may arise 
from association with surrounding nations and incorporating some of 
their words into their own language.* 


DESCRIPTION OF THE CROW COUNTRY 


The country usually inhabited by them is through the Rocky 
Mountains, along the heads of Powder River, Wind River, and Big 
Horn, on the south side of the Yellowstone, as far as Laramie’s Fork 
on the River Platte. They also are frequently found on the west and 
north side of that river as far as the head of Muscleshell River, and as 


2 Lowie has pointed out that ‘the alleged reason for the secession occurs among the traditions of other 
tribes and cannot be uncritically accepted as historical’ (Lowie, 1912, p. 183). Denig’s dating of this sep- 
aration, as published by Hayden (1862, p. 391), has been credited to the latter by more recent writers. Now 
we know this dating originated in the writing of a man who had far greater knowledge of the ethnohistory 
of the Northern Plains Indians than did Hayden. Mere separation from the Hidatsa does not explain 
Crow abandonment of the semisedentary life typical of the Missouri River horticulturalists in favor of the 
nomadic-hunting existence characteristic of this tribe when first described in some detail by the fur trader 
Francois Larocque in 1805. It seems most probable that this Crow cultural transition was part of a more 
widespread movement that witnessed a similar change in the culture of the Arapaho and Cheyenne, and 
that it followed the introduction of horses into the area northeast of the Black Hills in the first half, and 
probably during the second quarter of the eighteenth century. If Crow separation from the Hidatsa 
took place after horses were introduced, Denig’s dating may not be much too late. Lt. Bradley, in an in- 
dependent study of the Crow in 1876, concluded that this separation ‘‘occurred not later than 1775, and 
possibly a few years earlier” (Bradley, 1896, vol. 2, p. 179). However, Washington Mathews, on the basis 
of Hidatsa tradition, estimated in 1877 that the separation occurred ‘‘doubtlessly, more than one hundred, 
and probably not less than two hundred years ago” (Mathews, 1877, p. 39). As one of several possible 
interpretations of the Hagen site, near Glendive, Mont., where scapula digging tools, pottery, and a single 
earth-lodge site were found, Mulloy has suggested its occupation by the Crow in process of transition from 
a horticultural to a hunting economy (Mulloy, 1942, pp. 99-102). 

8 The earliest mention of the Crow by that name appears in the journal of the fur trader, Jean Baptiste 
Trudeau, among the Arikara Indians in 1795. ‘‘A war party of the Ricaras arrived on the fifth of June 
with the scalp of a man of the Crow Nation, a people who live near the Rocky Mountains” (Trudeau, 
1912, p. 22). Trudeau also learned that ‘‘a Canadian, named Menard, who, for sixteen years has made his 
home with the Mandan . . . has been several times among the nation of the Crows in company with the 
Gros Ventres [Hidatsa]’’ (Trudeau, 1921, p. 175). 

4 The affinity of the Crow and Hidatsa languages was recognized by fur traders in the first decade of the 
nineteenth century. In 1805 Larocque noted close resemblances between these languages and listed a 
comparative Hidatsa-Crow vocabulary of 21 words to illustrate the point (Larocque, 1910, pp. 68-69). In 
the next year Alexander Henry wrote, ‘“‘Thelanguageof the Crowsis nearly the same as the Big Bellies” 
(Henry and Thompson, 1897, vol. 2, p. 399). Mathes (1877, p. 39) suggested that even in the period when 
the Crows lived in close proximity to the Hidatsa they may have spoken a slightly different dialect from 
the latter. 


fa OF THE CROW NATION—DENIG 21 


low down as the mouth of the Yellowstone.2 That portion of their 
country lying east of the mountains is perhaps the best game country 
in the world. From the base of the mountains to the mouth of the 
Yellowstone buffalo are always to be found in immense herds. Along 
that river elk may be seen in droves of several hundred at a time, also 
large bands of deer both of black-tailed and white-tailed species.? An- 
telope cover the prairies, and in the badlands near the mountains 
are found in great plenty bighorn sheep and grizzly bear. Every 
creek and river teems with beaver, and good fish and fowl can be had 
at any stream in the proper season. 


“s 
‘, CANADA a 


i. te On anew e Pae! 
a. rial» O g 7 eh 
A satiate. er 
tice * “FT. M° KENZIE® = 1 
Lane ' (1832-1844) ae A i 
oe’ © 2 i 
< oo vv 
bay * + vv v 
ae a @ 
at pote 
i : zl 


Ane mNee 


CROW COUNTRY 
1855 


O SOUTH PASS 


N & 


00 


SCALE IN MILES 


CHEYENNE, 
Map 1.—The Crow country, 1855. 


The once almost fabulous country of the Rocky Mountains is now 
so well known as scarcely to need description. The scenery of the dis- 
trict now under consideration does not materially differ from that in 
other parts of their range. The same high, stony peaks and eternal 


5 While at the Crow camp on an island in the Yellowstone River a few miles east of present Billings, 
Mont., September 14, 1805, Larocque recorded the earliest known definition of Crow territory. “They told 
me that in winter they were always to be found at a Park by the foot of the Mountain a few miles from 
this or thereabouts. In the spring and fall they are upon this River and in summer upon the Tongue and 
Horses River” (Larocque, 1910, p. 45). ‘Horses River’? is present Pryor Creek. Today the Crow 
Reservation lies within the area occupied by the Crow a century and a half ago. Figure 1 of this publica- 
tion shows the Crow country at the time of Denig’s writing, as defined by the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851, 
and confirmed in its northern limits by the Blackfoot Treaty of 1855. 


22 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY (Buin. 151 


snows are seen, intersected with fertile valleys and rich land. Most 
-of the rivers whose sources are in these mountains are clear, rapid 
streams formed from springs which widen into lakes of different sizes 
according to the nature of the obstruction the water meets with in its 
descent. In their course through the valleys some of them assume a 
muddy appearance caused by the falling in of alluvial soil. The 
spaces between the spurs of the mountains are well covered with rich, 
grassy field flowers, shrubs, and trees, presenting many beautiful 
landscapes well worth the painter’s pencil. The high ranges of 
mountains appear to consist of three different portions. From the 
base, one-third the distance up is well covered with tall pines, pop- 
lars, and other trees of large growth. This part of the ascent is also 
varied by occasional level places well clothed with verdure. The 
middle or second third is composed of gigantic rocks piled one on the 
other, often overhanging in such a manner as to present a frightful 
appearance to the travelers below. Through these rocks stunted 
cedars and pines, with other shrubs and vines, push their way, taking 
root where apparently there is no earth. At the end of this part 
vegetation ceases, and snow commences which continues to the sum- 
mit. This snow is perpetual, ’tho part of it melts annually, which loss 
is supplied the ensuing winter. Yet it is presumed no thaw takes 
place on the summit, but on the sides some distance down. When the 
snow accumulates on the projections so as to lose its balance it is 
precipitated below in the form of avalanches something like those of 
the Alps, taking on its way large rocks and increasing in size as it goes 
along. ‘Trees give way before it until it finds rest in the lower places 
where it aids to form the sources of rivers. Snow slides are also com- 
mon by which piles of snow miles in extent are detached and force 
their way into the valleys or at least as far as the thickly timbered 
section. Many parts of these mountains along Powder River and 
the Big Horn appear to have undergone volcanic action. Pummice 
stone and different rocks in a state of fusion can be picked up. There 
are also large towers of melted sand 20 or 30 feet high, some of which 
can be met with in the valleys isolated from any rock, and surrounded 
by green prairie for miles every way. Other ridges of hills seem to 
have been entirely calcined, convulsed by some eruption, after which 
the rain has washed them into that grotesque appearance known as 
Mauvaise Terre [sic], which has already been referred to in treating of 
the Sioux district. Some of the springs near the head of the Yellow- 
stone are bituminous, sending forth a substance like tar, which is in- 
flammable. Others are sulfurous, and one or two boiling. The water 
in the last is hot enough to cook meat well enough to fit it to be eaten. 
The Indians describe others to be of a poisonous nature to animals, ’tho 
the same water is said not to affect the human species. Many 


Rees OF THE CROW NATION—DENIG 23 


beautiful specimens of petrified marine shells, fish, snakes, and wood 
are to be found along the banks of the Yellowstone and its tributaries, 
even some distance in the interior. Some of these do not belong to any 
known living animals of the kind in this country, which would seem to 
prove that these mountains have at a former period been submarine. 
Most of the tributaries of the Yellowstone are well wooded; ’tho that 
river is only well timbered about one-third the distance from its 
conflux to the base of the mountains, where the pine growth com- 
mences, the lower part being altogether cottonwood and the points 
getting larger from the mouth of Powder River to its junction with the 
Missouri. The soil is good along the valley of the Yellowstone from 
the mouth to the Big Horn. Indeed most of the valleys near the 
mountains through which streams run are fit for tilling purposes, ’tho 
the want of timber in the interior would always prove a bar to the 
country’s ever being thickly settled by an agricultural population. 

The Yellowstone, like the Missouri, rises to its full every spring, 
owing to the melting of the snow on the lower parts of the mountains. 
This rise usually comes on about the middle of May and continues till 
the middle of June, when it commences falling unless kept up by heavy 
rains. During this high stage of water steamers of light draft might 
navigate it to the first rapids which are about 150 miles from the 
mouth. The ice commonly gives way about the first of April, and 
when broken up suddenly by pressure of water from the mountains, it 
forms dams quite across the valley raising the water 50 or 60 feet and 
inundating the neighboring country. ‘The Crow Indians are greatly 
in fear of the water on these occasions, and suffer severely when taken 
unaware. The writer was eyewitness to one of these breakings up 
early in the month of February. About 130 lodges of Crows were 
encamped on the bank of the Yellowstone where the valley is 3 miles 
wide to the nearest hills. The water came down upon them in the 
night so suddenly that they barely escaped with their lives by running 
to the hills. But the land near the bluffs is lower than that on the 
bank of the stream, consequently in running that way they encountered 
water, wading and swimming through it carrying their children. They 
lost their whole winter’s hunt, besides nearly all their arms, ammuni- 
tion, and other property. When the water fell it left immense quanti- 
ties of ice piled up around their lodges, which were dug out with great 
difficulty. Their entire loss on this occasion could not be much less 
than 10 or 12 thousand dollars’ worth of merchandise. A few years 
ago the American Fur Co.’s fort at the mouth of the Big Horn was 
inundated in the same way, and a great deal of merchandise and 
peltries destroyed. This river is, when high, very rapid and dangerous 
to navigate on account of the rocks, snags, and other obstructions. 


909871—_52——_3 


24 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY {BULL 151 


Mackinaw boats descend it, but every year furs are lost and men are 


drowned. 
POPULATIONZAND_ MAJOR: DIVISIONS 


The Crow Indians live in skin lodges like the rest of the migratory 
tribes. They were formerly about 800 lodges or families, but from the 
usual causes of diminution, sickness, and war, are now reduced to 460 
lodges. These are separated into several bands each governed by a 
chief, and occupying different parts of their territory.6 Their present 
range and divisions are nearly as follows. That band headed by ‘“The 
Big Robber” usually make their winter hunt on the head of Powder 
River, and of late years take their furs and buffalo robes to the trading 
houses along the River Platte in the spring; from which they obtain 
supplies to continue their operations, and move back to winter 
quarters early in the fall.?/ Another portion, led by “Two Face,” is 
the largest band of the Crows, consisting of about 200 lodges.2 These 
generally move about through Wind River Mountains and deal with 
the American Fur Co.’s traders located up the Yellowstone. The next 
part of any consideration is that which acknowledges ‘‘The Bear’s 
Head”’ as its leader and which travels along the Yellowstone from the 
mouth to its head, sometimes passing the winter with the Assiniboines 
and trading at Fort Union, but more frequently selling the proceeds of 
their hunt to the traders in the upper part of their country.’ 


6 Larocque estimated Crow population at some 300 lodges in 1805, having been reduced from 2,000 lodges by 
a succession of destructive smallpox epidemics. ‘‘Since the great decrease of their numbers they generally 
dwell all together and flit at the same time and as long as it is possible for them to live when together they 
seldom part . . . though at such seasons as they are not liable to be attacked they part for a short time’’ 
(Larocque, 1910, pp. 55-56). Prior to Chief Rotten Belly’s death in 1834, his rivalry with Long Hair resulted 
in a split of the tribe into two divisions, the River and the Mountain Crow (Bradley, 1923, vol. 9, pp. 312- 
313; Curtis, 1909, vol. 4, p. 49). Zenas Leonard, the fur trader, found the Crow in ‘‘two divisions of an equal 
number in each”’ in the fall of 1834 (Leonard, 1904, p. 255). In the period 1833-50, Crow population was 
estimated at about 400 lodges (Maximilian, 1906, vol. 22, p. 351; Larpenteur, 1898, vol. 1, p. 45; Culbertson, 
1851, p. 144). Curtis was told of an incipient third division of the Crow, the Whistle Water clan, who, 
about the year 1850, hunted apart from the other Mountain Crow on the headwaters of the Big Horn and 
Powder Rivers (Curtis, 1909, vol. 4, p. 43). Presumably this was Denig’s ‘‘Big Robber’s Band.’’ In 1856 
Indian Agent Vaughan estimated Crow population at 450 lodges (Ann. Rep. Comm. Ind. Aff., 1856, p. 80). 

7 Kurz called this chief ‘‘Big Robert.’’ He considered him the head chief of the Mountain Crow, and 
Rottentail head chief of the River Crow in 1851. Rottentail did not attend the Fort Laramie Treaty Council 
that summer, so that Big Robber was selected by the Government as head chief of the tribe. Kurz indicated 
that as a result Big Robber “will gain considerable influence through the distribution of gifts provided by 
the United States; many of Rottentail’s adherents will move over to Big Robert’s settlement. Besides, 
Rottentail has not more than 80 tents’’ (Kurz, 1937, pp. 212, 240). 

8 Two Face’s camp traded at Fort Sarpy in April 1855. The next spring a trader named Scott convinced 
Two Face that the Government annuities at Fort Union contained smallpox, and that he should take his 
trade to the Platte. Two Face’s camp was en route to the Platte when Indian Agent Vaughan reached the 
Crow country that summer. Vaughan sent runners to turn him back. Two Face returned and agreed to 
receive annuities for his division of the Crow at Fort Union (McDonnell, 1940, pp. 120, 122, 176, 186-187). 

® Bear’s Head traded at Fort Union in the fall and winter of 1851-52. Kurz referred to him as “‘the chief in 
command of the soldiers . . . a warrior of great ability and renown” (Kurz, 1937, pp. 213, 251, 260). The 
Fort Sarpy journal makes frequent references to Bear’s Head’s trade at that post in the early months of 1855, 
and of his trade at Fort Union in March 1856. The journalist termed Bear’s Head ‘‘a good easy man & lets 
his people do as they please” about the fort. In 1858 the Lutheran missionaries Braueninger and Schmidt 
stayed in Bear’s Head’s camp (McDonnell, 1940, pp. 106, 107, 109, 110, 113, 115, 158-159, 176, 183, 186, 286). 


Ee teal OF THE CROW NATION—DENIG 25 


INTERTRIBAL RELATIONS 


The whole nation have a rendezvous every summer, when after 
performing several national solemnities which will be mentioned, 
they move across the mountains to exchange the greater part of the 
merchandise traded for horses. This traffic is carried on with the 
Flat Heads in St. Mary’s Valley, or with the Snake and Nez Percé 
Indians on the headwaters of the Yellowstone.” With the natives 
named, the Crows have been at peace for a long time. Also for the 
last few years, since 1850, they have been on meeting terms with the 
Assiniboines. But their natural and eternal enemies are the Blackfeet 
on the west and the Sioux on the east, with both of whom war has 
continued from time immemorial without being varied by even a 


transient peace." 
RAIDING FOR HORSES 


The Crows are perhaps the richest nation in horses of any residing 
east of the Rocky Mountains. It is not uncommon for a single family 
to be the owner of 100 of these animals. Most middle-aged men have 
from 30 to 60. An individual is said to be poor when he does not 
possess at least 20. The Blackfeet also have plenty, and this is 
cause of continual war. Scarcely a week passes but large numbers 
are swept off by the war parties on both sides. In these depredations 
men are killed, which calls for revenge by the losing tribe. During a 
single summer or winter several hundred animals in this way change 
owners. A great portion of the time of each nation is occupied either 
in guarding their own horses or in attempts to take those of their 
enemies. 

The Crow Indians take good care of their horses, as much at least 
as is practicable in their roving manner of life, and more than any 
other tribe in the North West territory except the Gros Ventres. They 


10 The pattern of Crow horse trading was well developed as early as the first decade of the nineteenth 
century. They obtained horses, Spanish riding gear and blankets, and horn bows from the Flathead, 
Shoshone, and Nez Percé in the west in exchange for objects of European manufacture (metal knives, awls, 
spear and arrow heads, kettles, ornaments, and a few guns). At the Hidatsa villages they traded some of 
the horses and other articles obtained from the western tribes, together with dried meat, skin lodges, and 
clothing prepared by the Crow themselves, for corn, pumpkins, tobacco, and European trade articles. 
Larocque witnessed this trade in 1805, and Alexander Henry observed it in 1806 (Larocque, 1910, pp. 22, 64, 
66, 71-72; Henry and Thompson, 1897, vol. 1, pp. 398-399). 

11 Kighteenth-century writers on the Blackfoot do not mention that tribe’s warfare with the Crow. This 
suggests also that Crow movement westward may have been relatively late. Yet in 1811, Alexander Henry 
stated “the Crows are the only nation that sometimes venture northward in search of the Slaves” (Black- 
foot). He told of both Piegan and Atsina expeditions against the Crow in that year (Henry and Thompson, 
1897, vol. 2, pp. 720, 726, 732). The Blackfoot defeated a combined force of Crow and Atsina in their last 
large-scale battle with the Crow near the Cypress Hills in 1866. However, Crow and Blackfoot continued 
horse-raiding expeditions against each other until 1884 or 1885. 

Hayden’s use of Denig’s “Of the Crow Nation” ends at this point. (See Hayden, 1862, pp. 391-394.) 

12 In 1805 Larocque observed, ‘He is reckoned a pocr man who has not 10 horses in spring before the trade 
at the Missouri takes place and many have 30 or 40, everybody rides, men, women, & children” (Larocque, 
1910, p. 64). In 1833 the Crow were “‘said to possess more horses than any other tribe on the Missouri” 
(Maximilian, 1906, vol. 22, p. 351). Indian Agent Vaughan estimated the Crow owned an average of 20 
horses per lodge in 1853 (Ann. Rep. Comm. Ind. Aff., 1853, p. 355). 


26 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bun 151 


drive them often 10 or 12 miles from the camp, where young men are 
stationed to guard and water them. These horse guards are the 
younger portion of the families who own them, from the ages of 15 to 
25 years, each family taking charge of its own horses and no more. 
When on the borders of an enemy’s country or at any time when war 
parties are thought to be in the neighborhood, the best horses are 
brought home and tied to the doors of their lodges in readiness to 
follow any persons who might steal the rest in the night. These 
people live in the hourly expectation of losing all their horses, which 
is their only wealth, to the warriors of the surrounding nations, 
particularly the Sioux and Blackfeet. 

While writing this, February 1856, a party of Blackfeet took off 70 
horses from the camp of Crow Indians at the mouth of the Yellow- 
stone. This they did early in the night so that they were not known 
to be stolen until about 10 o’clock the next day, when the guard went 
to look after them. As soon as the discovery was made about 100 
Crows started in pursuit, each riding one fast horse and leading 
another. The Blackfeet had a whole night’s start, but the horses 
had to break a road through deep snow, by which they lost time, 
while the pursuers had the advantage of a tolerable road made by 
their trail. For 3 days and 2 nights they kept up the chase, leaving 
the horses as they became tired and mounting their led animals. 
At the close of the second day their reserve horses gave out and they 
continued on foot. Both parties during all this time had neither 
eaten, drunk, nor slept, and were exposed to intense cold, but the 
chase being one of life or death, there was no time to be lost in any 
way. At dark on the evening of the third day the Crows came in the 
vicinity of the enemies, who also being worn out with fatigue and 
hunger, had camped, killed a buffalo, and were cooking. They 
had taken the precaution to drive the horses some miles farther, and 
being unaware of the proximity of their pursuers, were making fine 
preparations to pass an agreeable night around their fire. The Crows 
approached the camp under cover of the darkness and woods of the 
Yellowstone, but were obliged to make a circuit of a few miles where 
they found their horses, quietly grazing, which they recaptured and 
drove some distance below the fires of their enemies. After accom- 
plishing this, some of them wished to charge upon them in the night. 
But their leader waited the breaking of day, when, as he expected, 
they would separate in different directions to hunt the horses, and 
they could kill one without danger to themselves. The result was 
what he anticipated. Early in the morning two men followed the 
tracks of the horses to near where the Crows lay in wait for them. 
[hese they charged upon. One escaped but the other did not or could 
notrun. He endeavored to fire his gun, but was stabbed and scalped 


ae ie OF THE CROW NATION—DENIG 27 


alive, and afterwards cut up. No further attempt was made on the 
rest hard by. They had accomplished what they came to do—got 
back their horses and killed a man without losing any of their party, 
which is a better coup than killing several enemies with the loss of a 
man on their side. 

Such skirmishes and chases are of daily occurrence summer and 
winter around both the Crow and Blackfeet camps. During a year 
more than 100 are killed on each side. When the parties are strong, 
severe battles take place and 50 to 100 are killed on each side if they 
are pursued and overtaken. But they often get away with the horses 
free of loss; particularly in the summer season when the trail cannot 
be followed fast, or when large war parties make a descent on small 
camps. Whatever losses in horses the Crows sustain, they are sup- 
plied by yearly peregrinations to the Flat Heads and Nez Percés with 
whom they exchange guns, blankets, etc., the produce of their robes 
and furs, for these animals. On their return the same scenes are 
enacted over again. The Blackfeet, being four times more numerous 
than the Crows, gain by these expeditions.* The latter are gradually 
becoming weaker in men from this and other causes. The Assini- 
boines supply themselves with horses by stealing from the Blackfeet, 
and the Sioux in their turn take them from the Assiniboines. Thus 
the poor animals are run from one nation to another, frequently in 
this way returning to their original owner several times. This, with 
the chase of buffalo and travel of the camp, packing meat, etc., soon 
wears the beasts out. The Crows value their horses from $60 to $100 
each, and those of the Blackfeet can be obtained for from $20 to $60 
in merchandise. 

It is thought best to be somewhat lengthy and particular about 
these animals in this history, as it will go far to explain one of the 
principal causes of perpetual warfare existing among the tribes, 
which is destined to lead to their entire extinction. Without horses 
Indians cannot support their families by a hunter’s life. They must 
have them or starve. Tribes who have few must furnish themselves 
from those who have many, and smaller nations become so reduced 
in number by the frequency of these expeditions as to fall an easy prey 
to the larger ones. This is now the case with the Crows who, ’tho 
brave enough, can scarcely protect what animals they have, much 
less go in quest of others from their enemies. They do it, however, 
and consequently are becoming gradually thinned. 

13 Denig probably classed the Atsina with the three Blackfoot tribes in his comparative computation of 
Crow-Blackfoot populations. Still his proportion seems exaggerated. Vaughan, who considered the 


Atsina part of the ‘Blackfeet Nation” estimated its total population at 1,175 lodges in 1858, roughly 234 
times Denig’s Crow estimate of 1856 (Ann, Rep. Comm, Ind. Aff., 1858, p. 432). 


28 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY {Buin 151 
SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF THE CROW INDIANS 


This tribe has strongly marked national features, differing in some 
respects greatly from any other. Their general character is peaceable 
toward Whites. They are not ever very bloodthirsty toward their 
enemies, except in case of immediate revenge for the loss of some of 
their people. One excellent trait in their character is that, if possible, 
in battle they take the women and children prisoners, instead of 
dashing their brains out as the rest of the tribes do. They and their 
friends and brethren (the Gros Ventres) are the only nations we 
know who exhibit this mark of humanity. 

About 12 years ago in a great battle with the Blackfeet in which the 
Crows killed all the men of 45 lodges of the former, they also took 
150 women and children prisoners. These they did not even use 
harshly. The women were made to work like their own wives— 
perhaps a little more—’tho not abused. The children were adopted 
into their own families, have grown up, and are now as much Crow 
as those of their own producing." It is also worthy of remark that 
the women, after a year’s residence, and understanding some of the 
language, will not return to their people when given their liberty. 
This speaks volumes in favor of the Crows, proving how much 
better they are with strangers than with their own friends. The male 
children become Crow warriors, and carry the tomahawk and scalping 
knife against their relations, often murdering their own fathers or 
brothers without knowledge or remorse. The loss of a male child or a 
warrior is always a great misfortune with Indians. It is one less to 
defend the camp or to hunt. Therefore, in thus raising the children 
of their enemies, they in a manner supply the loss of a portion killed 
in war. These children are not always adopted as sons or daughters 
of those who capture them. This only happens when those who have 
taken them have recently lost by sickness some of their own children, 
to which the prisoner child is supposed to bear a resemblance. 
Whether or not this step is taken, they always become attached to 
them, who as they grow up show much affection and are instructed 
in the customs of war and the chase the same as others. The children 
knowing no other parentage except from the descriptions received 
from their protectors, which are always unfavorable, their feelings, 
of course, toward their masters are the same as though they were 
their own parents. 

“ Denig (1930, pp. 551-552) referred to this action, stating that some 200 women and children were cap” 
tured, but the Fur Co.’s agent among the Crow was able to return about 50 women to their own people. 
This doubtless was the battle between the Crow and the Small Robes band of the Piegan in 1845. That 
ores aa reduced the Small Robes from a prominent Piegan band to one of minor importance. (See 


4} Gray-bull, one of Lowie’s Crow informants, stated that he had “raised a boy because he looked like one 
of his own sons, who had died”’ (Lowie, 1912, p. 219). 


wae OF THE CROW NATION—DENIG 29 


The Crows are cunning, active, and very intelligent in everything 
appertaining to the chase, war, or their own individual bargaining. 
In all other respects they are in a primitive state of ignorance. They 
are the most superstitious of all the tribes, and can be made to believe 
almost any story however improbable if the same is of a superhuman 
nature. Thus they ascribe powers to Whites, and to their own con- 
jurors, far beyond those admitted by any other nation. Residing as 
they have and still do in the isolated regions of the Rocky Mountains, 
they have not had the opportunity to improve themselves in any 
branch of knowledge, even in the most simple things, that those who 
reside on the Missouri have. They seldom see any white persons in 
their own country except the fur traders, who are with them part of 
the winter and who only attract their attention to matters relating to 
the trade. Surrounded by hostile and powerful tribes, they have not 
until late years had the advantage of associating with other nations, 
and from that source gleaning some information concerning the world 
around them. They may be said to be yet in a state of nature, and 
but little elevated above the brute creation. 

Some of their habits are of so filthy and disgusting a nature as not 
to admit of being published. In other respects they may be reckoned 
good. For instance, scarcely an incident has happened during the 
last 40 years in which they have killed a white man. Even the Rocky 
Mountain trappers, that desperate set of men who imposed upon and 
ill-treated them on all occasions, were suffered to trap their country of 
beaver without molestation. Not that they feared them, for these 
trappers were scattered through their district in small parties, which 
could at any time be cut off without loss, but by some natural forma- 
tion of their disposition, they would not kill them and seldom robbed 
them. This is the more singular when we reflect that inveterate war 
was kept up between these trappers and all other nations, in which 
many were killed on all sides, and which resulted in the Whites 
abandoning that dangerous business. While the Assiniboines, Sioux, 
Blackfeet, Crees, and all have murdered Whites at different times, the 
Crow Nation can step forward and declare themselves unpolluted by 
their blood. 

Another thing equally strange is that such a savage nation, living 
without any law and but little domestic regulation of any kind, 
should be able to settle all their individual quarrels with each other 
without bloodshed, while yearly brawls and murders take place among 
the rest of the tribes. In the space of 12 years but one Crow Indian 
has been killed by his own people. The cause of this was: An Indian 
struck another’s wife across the face with his whip, upon which the 
husband stabbed him on the spot. The relations of the deceased 
armed to kill the other. But his friends protected him till dark, 


30 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 151 


when he fled to the Snake Indians, with whom he resided 12 years. 
Then, thinking the affair blown over, he returned to his own people. 
But the old grudge was renewed, and he was obliged to leave the 
second time, with the intimation that should he again return he 
would be killed. Since that time he has not been heard from. 
Though this is the case, and they do not kill or strike each other, yet 
we must not infer therefrom that no quarrels take place. On the 
contrary, differences arise more frequently among them than among 
others who carry quarrels to extremes, because, where the penalty of 
offense is death, persons are more circumspect in their behavior. But 
the Crows settle all disputes by abuse and taking each other’s horses. 
Thus, if an Indian elopes with another’s wife, the unfortunate husband 
will seize upon the whole of the offender’s horses. Should he have 
none, then he takes those of his relations. In this he has the support 
not only of his own relations, but of the greater part of the camp. 
Now an action of this kind would be death to the offender with all 
other nations, besides taking a good deal of his property. 

When retaliation is made by taking horses, the person who has 
committed the offense keeps the woman, and in the course of time his 
relations buy back his horses from the other. Any crime or misde- 
meanor can be paid for among the Crows except murder. Even 
should this happen, we feel convinced that their fondness for horses 
would overrule their disposition to revenge, and that a reasonable 
number of these animals given to the friends of the deceased would 
settle the affair. Any large thefts, and all disputes concerning women, 
are arranged on this system.'® 

Smaller pilferings and discord are decided by heartily abusing each 
other. At this game both men and women are equally adept, and 
their language affords a fine variety of beautiful epithets, which they 
bestow upon each other in great profusion. Most of these expressions 
consist of comparing the visage and person thus abused to the most 
disgusting objects in nature, even to things not known in the natural 
world. Or they likewise cast in each other’s teeth the poverty of 
themselves or their relatives.” The men are as bad as the women 
on these occasions, though men when angry usually commence relating 
their brave actions, count each coup distinctly on their fingers, calling 
on their antagonist to do the same and show which is the bravest man. 
In the course of a dispute of this kind the lie is given many times, 

16 A half-century earlier Larocque noted that quarrels among the Crow generally were settled through 
gifts of horses or guns to the offended persons, ‘‘but there happen few quarrels, and they are generally occa- 
sioned by their wives and jealousy’’ (Larocque, 1910, pp. 58, 61). 

17 Lowie found that songs ‘‘composed in derision of someone that had transgressed the rules of propriety, 
or in revenge for some personal or group affront, seem to have figured prominently in Crow society. . . 


Similar punishment was meted out by jilted lovers, and by one of the three local groups, when affronted by 
one of the others’? (Lowie, 1912, p. 245). 


ars OF THE CROW NATION—DENIG aL 
which attracts no further notice than sending the like back with the 
addition of coward, thief, etc. In this way also whole bands abuse 
each other. The band of the Platte sometimes takes offense at the 
band along the Yellowstone. Every traveler that comes from one 
to the other during 1, or sometimes 2 years, brings threats, abuse, and 
defiance. One who did not know them would think that in case the 
bands met a desperate struggle would take place. Nevertheless 
when they meet, after all this parade of threats, they are the most 
peaceable people in existence. They will remain together for months 
on good terms. But when they separate, and have a river between 
them, so that no harm can be done, their war commences and terrible 
is the abuse shouted across the stream, accompanied by throwing 
stones that do not reach halfway, or shooting in the air with powder. 
This kind of conflict is often kept up for a day or two. Then they go 
different directions, swearing vengeance at their next meeting. 

These people also are remarkable for never being the first to break 
a peace between them and other nations. They have at several 
periods been on friendly terms with the Assiniboines, Flatheads, 
Arikaras, Arappahoes, Cheyennes, Snakes, and other tribes. When- 
ever these transient peaces were interrupted, it was done by the others. 

Having now enumerated some of their good qualities it is time we 
should refer to other traits not so amiable. In the first place they are 
beggarly and troublesome, particularly the young men, women, and 
children. When camped around a fort or wintering houses they fill 
up every place, torment all the domestic animals, and steal everything 
they can lay their hands on. The men are bold and impudent, par- 
ticularly the warrior class. The women are noisy, thievish. Neither 
have the least idea of decency or decorum. The bucks make it their 
whole business night and day to run after the women, who, whether 
married or not, appear to be perfectly unaware that virtue or chastity 
has any existence even in the imagination. Their conduct in these 
matters is carried on in broad daylight without any regard to bystand- 
ers or lookers on. Indeed it would appear that they are as destitute 
of the ideas of decency or modesty as any part of the brute creation, 
for they prefer to be seen rather than to conceal any and all transac- 
tions between the sexes. No disgrace or penalty being attached to 
deceiving young women, contrary to the customs of other tribes, the 
ruining of a woman’s character appears to be lightly if at all considered; 
it must follow that virtue is at a very low ebb among them. The 
consequence of this promiscuous and illicit intercourse is that disease 
more or less runs through the whole nation. Another effect is that 
a superfluous number of unmarried women are to be found, and 
those who are married are neglected by their husbands who run after 
the rest. The married women are not a whit better than the others 


32 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL 151 


as they usually have had more or less connection before they were 
taken as wives by any one man. Before marriage a woman is not 
thought imprudent if she has but one lover; more, however, stamps her 
character as a courtesan. Consequently if such a thing as an honest 
woman can be found in this tribe it is one who has been raised under 
the husband’s own care from a child, and taken for a wife at the age 
of 10 to 13 years.® 

The old men, chiefs, and councilors are more decorous in their 
behavior as regards certain matters in which women are concerned. 
Neither are they so impudent and forward as the young men. But 
they make it up in begging any and everything they think likely to 
be had. In their camp this system of begging is changed to borrow- 
ing articles which they invariably forget to return. The stealing of 
property is mostly confined to the old women who are capital hands at 
it. Sometimes small things such as knives, ornaments, and utensils 
are abstracted. But in a large camp where all are compelled to leave 
their buffalo hides outside their lodges for want of room, several hun- 
dred of these and other skins are stolen from each other during a 
winter. About a fort they find good picking—tin cups, knives, 
spoons, articles of clothing, tools, etc., disappear with remarkable 
rapidity. ‘They are so adroitly taken even before the eyes of the 
owner as always to escape detection. Larger items such as guns and 
horses they do not steal, either from the Whites or from each other. 
Frauds of this kind could not be concealed and the owner would take 
his property. Among kindred, however, these Indians show some 
liberality. Ifa man has all his horses stolen or killed, he can generally 
find friends to give him others, ’tho the giver expects payment when 
the receiver shall have retrieved his losses, or to be paid in some other 
way. Situated as they are in the constant fear of enemies, and liable 
at any time to lose their whole stock of animals, custom has pointed 
out the above plan to secure to them as far as may be the means to 
obtain a living. However much they may like their horses, or dis- 
like to part with them, yet each man feels he depends on his neighbor 
for support when they are taken off. This happens so often as to 
render an understanding of this kind not only desirable, but absolutely 
necessary to their national existence; so that what appears at first 
sight to be a liberal and kind action is only one of interested principle. 

The men and women are troublesome enough in many things, but 
the greatest nuisance in creation is Crow children, boys from the ages 
of 9 to 14 years. These are left to do just as they please. They 
torment their parents and everyone else, do all kinds of mischief 


18 In 1833 Maximilian noted, “‘Of the female sex, it is said of the Crows, that they, with the women of the 
Arikkaras, are the most dissolute of all the tribes of the Missouri” (Maximilian, 1806, vol. 22, p. 354). Lowie 
found Crow ‘‘mythology, the reminiscences of informants, and ancient songs are all surcharged with evi- 
dence of the tendency to apparently unlimited philandering” (Lowie, 1917, p. 78). 


ee egnors FAP OF THE CROW NATION—DENIG 33 


without either correction or reprimand. Jn other nations these small 
fry are kept out of sight where men are, but the parents of this nation 
place them before themselves in every crowd or assembly, or in their 
own families. Thus they become intolerable, and a few years after 
ripen into the bold, forward, impudent young men before mentioned. 

The male grown portion of the Crows are decidedly prepossessing in 
their appearance. The warrior class is perhaps the handsomest 
body of Indians in North America.” They are all tall, straight, well 
formed, with bold, fierce eyes, and as usual good teeth. These also 
dress elegantly and expensively. A single dress often brings the 
value of two, three, or four horses. The men of this age are neat and 
clean in their persons, fond of dress and decoration, wear a profusion 
of ornaments and have different dresses suitable for different occasions. 
They wear their hair long, that is, it is separated into plaits to which 
other hair is attached with gum, and hangs down their backs to several 
feet in length in a broad flat mass which is tied at the end and spotted 
over with white clay. A small portion in front is cut short and made 
to stand upright. On each side of the head hang frontlets made of 
beads or shells, and alongside each ear is suspended several inches of 
wampum. Their faces on ordinary occasions are painted red, varied 
with a tinge of yellow on the eyelids. In large slits through the ears 
are tied sea shells cut into angular shapes, which are of a changeable 
blue and green color. These shells find their way from the coast of 
California through the different nations until handed to the Crows in 
exchange for other property. 

As we do not wish to lose sight of the order of our history and are 
obliged in this place to confine ourselves to general description, the 
different dresses worn by these people on the occasions of their 
various ceremonies will be described when we come to treat of their 
manners and customs. It is sufficient here to state that the Crow 
men, as far as outward appearance goes, are much the finest looking 
of all the tribes. 

It would seem that nature on this occasion has done so much in 
favor of the Crow men that she entirely neglected the women. Of 
all the horrid looking objects in the shape of human beings these 
women are the most so. Bad features and worse shapes, filthy 
habits, dresses and persons smeared with dirt and grease, hair cut 
short and full of vermin, faces daubed over with their own blood in 
mourning for dead relations, and fingers cut off so that scarcely a 
whole hand is to be found among them, are the principal things that 

19 George Catlin, the artist, considered Crow men “‘really a handsome and well formed set of men as can 
be seen in any part of the world.” He described the faces of ‘‘the greater part of the men” as “strongly 
marked with a bold and prominent antiangular nose, with a clear and rounded arch, and a low receding 


forehead” (Catlin, 1841, vol. 1, pp. 49, 193). Catlin’s portrait of the Crow chief, Two Crows, painted at 
Fort Union in 1832, illustrates this facial profile. (See pl. 3.) 


34 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLy. 151 


attract the attention of the observer. The young women are hard, 
coarse-featured, sneaky looking, with sharp, small noses, thick lips, 
red eyelids caused by the venereal disease, and bare arms clothed 
with a coat of black dirt so ground in as to form a portion of the skin. 
The old hags can be compared to nothing but witches or demons. 
Some of them are of monstrous size, weighing 250 to 300 pounds, with 
naked breasts hanging halfway down to their knees. Being always in 
mourning for some dead relations, they are usually seen in old skin 
dresses, barelegged, hair cut short, and their faces smeared over with 
white clay and blood. Notwithstanding all this, some of them have 
very handsome dresses which they wear on several occasions and which 
will be referred to, though they pay but little attention to dress of 
any kind in their ordinary everyday life. It would appear singular 
that such handsome men would be satisfied with such ugly women, 
but they do not seem to have the same idea of female beauty as we 
have. If a woman be young and not absolutely deformed, one 
appears to be as desirable for them as another.” 

About one-half the nation have a plurality of wives, the rest only 
one each.”" The property of husband and wife is separate. Each 
has a share of horses, merchandise, and ornaments. Not being 
accustomed to depend much on each other’s fidelity they wisely 
prepare for immediate separation in the event of any great domestic 
quarrel. When from certain causes they decide on parting, the husband 
takes charge of all male children unless they are too small to leave 
the mother ;thefemale part gowith thewife. Guns, bows, ammunition, 
and all implements of war and the chase belong to the man; while 
kettles, pans, hides, and other baggage of the like nature fall to the 
woman’s share. The lodge is hers, and the horses and other property 
having been divided perhaps years before in anticipation of this 
event, each has no difficulty in selecting their own. From this state 
of things it must follow that differences often arise as to what kind 
of merchandise shall be bought with the proceeds of their winter’s 
hunt. She maneuvers to get such articles as would finally become 
hers, and he works for his advantage. In these differences, where 
considerable affection exists between the parties, the woman usually 
gains the point. At other times the skins are divided previous to 
selling and either trades what they like best. They exhibit great 
fondness for their children. Whatever they cry for they must have. 

* The artists Catlin and Kurz shared Denig’s opinion of the appearance of Crow women. Catlin (1841, 
vol. 1, p. 50) wrote, ‘The Crow women ... are not handsome.’”’ Kurz (1937, p. 184) stated, ““women 
of the Crow tribe are known rather more for their industry and skilled work than for beauty of face and 
form.” Catlin’s painting, reproduced as plate 4, is the earliest known portrait of a Crow Indian woman. 

8t Of Crow polygamy Larocque observed, ‘‘some of them [men] have 8 or 11 and 12 [wives], but in such 
cases they do not all live with him,some are young girls that are only betrusted. But by far the greatest 


Part have only 2 or 3 wives; some have only one, and those reason upon the folly of those that take many 
wives ’’ (Larocque, 1910, p. 57). ; 


pee searay OF THE CROW NATION—DENIG 30 


When sick, no expense is spared for the services of the medicine men, 
and in death they evince every feeling of deep-felt grief. When 
anyone dies the immediate relatives each cut off a joint of a finger. 
This is done by placing an ax or butcher knife on the joint, and 
striking the same with a good-sized stick. Occasionally, in a high 
state of excitement, they lay their finger on a block and chop it off 
with a knife held in the other hand. The blow often misses the joint 
and the finger is divided between joints, which takes a long time to 
heal and leaves a portion of the bone protruding which presents a 
very disagreeable appearance. Both men and women mutilate 
their hands in this manner, so that at the present day there is scarcely 
an entire hand among them. The men, however, reserve entire the 
thumb and forefinger of the left hand, and thumb and two fingers 
of the right, so that they can hold a gun or draw a bow. But even 
these fingers often want a joint or so when all the others are cut off 
to the stump. They never tie up these sores, but after daubing over 
their faces with the blood, hold a bunch of wild sage on the stump 
until it stops bleeding. The blood is never washed off their faces, 
but let dry there and wear off, and when it is no more to be seen they 
cut their legs to obtain it and renew the application.” The hair is 
also sacrificed on these occasions, either cut short or torn away by 
handfuls. In this state the mourner goes about on the hills howling 
dismally every day or so for a year or more, clothed with an old skin, 
bare feet and legs, wading through snow or mud, and crying until 
they are so hoarse as not to be heard. 

When the camp is on the move in the summer, this tribe presents 
a gay and lively appearance, more so perhaps than any other. On 
these occasions both men and women dress in their best clothes. 
Their numerous horses are decked out with highly ornamented 
saddles and bridles of their own making, scarlet collars and housings 
with feathers on their horse’s heads and tails. The warriors wear 
their richly garnished shirts, fringed with human hair and ermine, 
leggings of the same, and headdresses of various kinds, strange, gay, 
and costly. Any and all kinds of bright-colored blankets, loaded with 
beads worked curiously and elegantly across them, with scarlet 
leggings, form the principal portion of the dresses of the young men 
or those whose feats at war have not yet entitled them to the dis- 
tinguished privilege of wearing hair. These bucks are fancifully 
painted on the face, their hair arranged as has been described, with 
heavy and costly appendages of shells, beads, and wampum, to the 

22 Zenas Leonard (1904, pp. 271-272) witnessed self-mutilation by scarification and amputation of portions 
of fingers by relatives of Crow Indians killed in a battle with the Blackfoot, November 21, 1834. He saw 
that males preserved ‘‘the first two fingers of the right hand . . . for the purpose of bending the bow and 


many of the aged females may be seen with the end off each of their fingers, and some have even taken off 
the second crop.” Denig (1930, pp. 427-428) has another description of Crow self-mutilation. 


36 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bury. 151 


ears and around the neck. The women have scarlet or blue cloth 
dresses, others white cotillions made of the dressed skins of the big- 
horn sheep, which are covered across the breast and back with rows 
of elk teeth and sea shells. These frocks are fringed along the side 
and round the bottom. The fringes are wrought with porcupine 
quills and feathers of many colors. The price of the elk teeth alone 
is 100 for a good horse or in money the value of $50. A frock is not 
complete unless it has 300 elk teeth, which, with the other shells, 
skin, etc., could not be bought for less than $200. When traveling, 
the women carry to the horn of the saddle the warrior’s medicine 
bag, and shield. His sword, if he has one, is tied along the side and 
hangs down. The man takes charge of his gun and accoutrements 
in readiness for any attack however sudden. The baggage is all 
packed on the horses, at which they are very expert. Kettles, pots, 
pans, etc., have each their sack with cords attached. These are on 
the sides of the animal, and on top of the saddle is either one large 
child fit to guide the horse, or two or three small children so enveloped 
and well tied as to be in no danger of falling.* Often the heads of 
children are seen popping up alongside of pup dogs or cub bears on 
the same horse. The lodge occupies one horse and the poles another. 
The meat and other provisions are put up in bales well secured. 
They are so expeditious in packing that after their horses are caught 
they are saddled, the tents struck, everything put on the horses and 
on the march in less than 20 minutes. -'The great number and good 
quality of their horses make a showy appearance. Both men and 
women are capital riders. The young men take this occasion to show 
off their persons and horsemanship to the women. A good deal in 
the way of courting is also done when traveling. The train is several 
miles in length, wives are separated from their husbands, daughters 
at some distance from their mothers, which opportunities are not lost 
by these young and enterprising courtiers. They ride up alongside, 
make love, false promises, in short use any and all means to obtain 
their end. 

When on the march they move rapidly and when pressed for meat 
to eat, still more so. On these occasions they go on a fast trot, some- 
times at a gallop, making from 20 to 40 miles a day. Generally, 

23 Larocque (1910, p. 64) noticed that Crow children too young to ride alone were tied in the saddle when 


camp was moved. About two decades later Gordon wrote of Crow children, ‘At four or five years of age 
they will ride alone and guide the horse” (Gordon in Chardon, 1932, appendix E). 


a idl OF THE CROW NATION—DENIG 37 
however, their encampments are from 10 to 15 miles.* It is often a 
strange and barbarous sight to see small children but a few days old 
tied to a piece of bark or wood and hung to the saddle bow which 
flies up at each jump of the horse when on the gallop, their heads 
exposed to hot sun or cold. This does not appear to hurt them in the 
least. At sunset the cavalcade stops. The spot for each lodge is 
cleaned away and in the space of a few minutes the lodges are set up, 
the horses turned out to graze, and each family has a kettle of meat 
on the fire. 

Owing to their having good animals and plenty of them the Crows 
seldom suffer for want of meat as is the case with some tribes who are 
not so well furnished with horses. They can move camp at any time 
and go in quest of buffalo, should there be none in the neighborhood. 
They have little else to eat but meat. Their country produces a few 
wild cherries, plums, and service berries, together with some esculent 
roots. But none of these are collected in sufficient quantities to form 
a resource in time of need, and as they do not cultivate, they depend 
entirely on the chase for subsistence. 

They are good buffalo hunters on horseback with the bow and 
arrow, seldom using the gun for hunting except on foot when the 
snow is too deep for horses to catch the buffalo. They are not so 
good on foot as the Crees and Assiniboines, who, having few horses, 
have more practice in this manner of hunting.* They can kill elk 
and bighorn with their shot guns but are far behind the other nations 
named in this respect. They do not manage their hunts as the other 
tribes do. They have no soldiers’ lodge to regulate the hunts. Each 
man goes out with whoever chooses to follow. Sometimes nearly the 

2% Probably the best description of daily movements of any nomadic tribe of the Northern Plains in 
buffalo days appears in Larocque’s journal of his trip with the Crow from the Hidatsa villages on the Mis- 
souri to the Yellowstone River near present Billings, Mont., via the eastern base of the Big Horn Moun- 
tains, from June to September 1805. Analysis of his data (Larocque, 1910) shows that camp was moved 
on 47 of 76 days en route. Daily movements ranged from 3 to 24 miles. The median distance traveled on 
the days camp was moved was 944 miles. Generally they followed stream courses. There was no mention 
of any dry overnight camp. On several days rain caused a late start or early stop. Delays of a day or more 
were caused by inclement weather (rain), serious illness in camp, halts to hunt (although hunting parties 
generally were out while camp moved), to dry meat and dress hides following a concentrated hunt and to 
dry bison tongues for the forthcoming late summer ceremonial, to cut ash whips, to hold a council to 
determine the route to be followed following a disagreement among the leaders, to wait in readiness while 
scouts reconnoitered for signs of enemies feared to be in the vicinity. They also stopped for a day when good 
pasture was reached to permit their horses to feed and rest after 2 days of long marches across barren 
country. 

28 In 1805 Laroeque found the Crow to be “excellent marks men with the bows & arrows but poor shots 
withthegun.” Healsorenorted “They say that no equal number of other Indians can beat them on horse- 
back. but that on foot they are not capable to cope with those nations who have no horses” (Larocque, 1910, 
Pp. 65. 66). 

26 This statement is contrary to the observations of Larocque, “The hunting matches are regulated by a 
band of Young men who have much authority causing them to encamp or flit at their pleasure tell them 
where there are Buffaloes & to go hunting. They prevent them from setting out after one another and 
make those that are first ready wait for the others so that they may all go together and have an equal chance. 
Those that behave refractory to their orders are punished by a beating or their arms are broken or their tents 


cut to pieces’’ (Larocque, 1910, p. 60). Leonard also witnessed strict regulation of the hunt by Crow police 
in 1834 (Leonard, 1904, p. 257). 


38 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL 151 


whole camp turns out to one surround, and again but few. When 
many hunt together several hundred buffalo are killed, the meat and 
hides divided, and all return packing the same on their horses. There 
are no poor people among this nation. That is, there are none so 
destitute of means that they cannot go or sena to the hunt and get a 
supply of meat. In this respect they are much better off than some 
of the neighboring tribes. Another remarkably good trait in their 
character is, they do not suffer the aged and infirm to be left behind 
and perish as is the custom with some other nations, but this can be 
accounted for from the fact of their having the means to transport 
them while the others have not.” Neither is meat ever so rare with 
the Crows as with the Assiniboines. 


BIOGRAPHY OF CHIEF ROTTEN BELLY 


Some warriors have arisen among the Crows who displayed much 
generalship in conducting different expeditions against their enemies. 
Among the foremost of these can be classed Rotten Belly, who flour- 
ished about 20 years since, ‘tho he isnow dead. Had this man had the 
same opportunities of action he would undoubtedly have ranked with 
Tecumseh or Pontiac, but as his operations were confined to petty 
attacks on the hostile nations on their borders, and as he had but a 
small number to command, his friends must be contented with this 
small tribute to his memory. 

When a very young man he commenced his career of war in going 
out at the head of small parties and bringing home horses from the 
Cheyennes, Arapahoes, Panacks, Sioux, and Blackfeet. In these ex- 
peditions he was generally successful, taking large herds of horses and 
bringing his own party safe to camp. This is the principal aim of a 
leader, for if in stealing the horses he had had some of his people killed 
no credit would follow the feat. On many occasions, however, he was 
followed and overtaken by his enemies. These were the times in which 
he proved himself able to command. He had taken all precautionary 
measures, picked his men, had them well armed, the weapons in good 
order, and always retreated with his booty in a direction where timber 
was near in which to take shelter in case of attack. When escape was 
impossible he forted with wood and stones and gave battle. Frequent 
were the skirmishes he had with his foes in this way. But fortune 
favored him. At every sally he either brought home their scalps or 

37 “T saw more cripples and decrepid old men among them than among any other nation except the Big 
Bellys and the Mandans. It is said the Sauteurs and Kinistenaux tribes send their enfirms and old to 
Kingdome Come to ease themselves of the trouble of attending the care of them. These Nations, however, 
do it not, their old and infirm are of very little trouble to them. The Mandansand Big Bellies are sedentary 


and the Rocky Mountain Indians (Crows) have so many horses, that they can transport their sick without 
trouble. Whether they did it not before they had horses I do not know’’ (Larocque, 1910, p. 57). 


a eel OF THE CROW NATION—DENIG 39 


horses and always without losing any of his party. At the age of 30 
he was chief of the Crow Nation. 

Other things aided this man on his road to the chieftainship. He 
had large and rich connections, was considered a prophet or medicine 
man, one who could obtain supernatural aid in his operations. He 
made no show of his medicine, no parade of sacrifices, or smokings, no 
songs or ceremonies, but silently and alone he prayed to the thunder 
for assistance. In his general conduct he was not an agreeable man, 
but rather of a quiet, surly disposition. He spoke but little, but that 
in a tone of command. His great superiority over others consisted in 
decision, action, and an utter disregard for the safety of his own person. 

When acknowledged as the only chief of the whole nation he enacted 
many good laws and rules for their preservation, led the camp with 
judgment, choosing places where game was plentiful, and the country 
suitable for their animals and defense. He caused them to trade more 
guns and ammunition, established regular camp sentinels night and 
day, and used such vigilance that during his life the hostile neighbors 
could make no headway either against his people or their animals. 
Whoever approached the camp was killed. Warriors were on the alert 
and well prepared. 

When arrived at the sole command he left off heading small parties 
and carried war into their enemies’ country on a large scale. The first 
grand battle was with about 80 lodges of the Blackfeet on Muscleshell 
River. Rotten Belly had his spies out watching movements of this 
camp for months beforehand, and having collected the whole Crow 
Nation maneuvered them in such a way as not to raise the suspicion 
of their enemies. He appeared to be marching out of their country 
when in reality he was encircling them. His wish was to come upon 
them on some plain, and take them unprepared. 

When by his runners he knew that the time and situation were favor- 
able to his views, he, by forced marches, placed his camp near them 
without being discovered. Under cover of the night about 400 war- 
riors placed themselves still closer. Early in the day when their 
enemy’s camp was on the move, scattered over a level plain of some 
miles in extent, he gave the word to charge. Terrible was the storm 
that swept over the Blackfeet. The Crows were well armed, mounted, 
and prepared, the others embarrassed with their women, children, and 
baggage. Their long and weak line of march was literally, “rubbed 
out” by their savage foes. Whoever endeavored to defend was killed, 
the women and children taken prisoners. Most of the men of the 
Blackfeet were in front of the traveling van. They soon rallied and 
returned the charge but were outnumbered. Although they fought 
bravely for some time they soon were obliged to leave their families 


909871—52—4 


40 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLy. 151 


and seek safety in flight. Others died defending their children. In 
the end, after a severe battle of a few hours, 100 and upwards of the 
Blackfeet lay dead on the field. Two hundred and thirty women and 
children were taken prisoners and more than 500 head of horses fell 
to the share of the Crows, besides all the lodges, camp equipment, pro- 
visions, etc. The Crows lost 22 men in this battle, besides others 
badly wounded. But upon the whole it was a great victory for these 
wild tribes who seldom have an opportunity to do half that much. 
They did not scalp half their enemies, there were too many and they 
tired of the employment. But few men of this small camp of Black- 
feet escaped. The male children taken were brought up to be Crow 
warriors, and the females to be the wives of their captors with the view 
of repairing the former losses of these people in their constant wars 
with neighboring tribes. 

Although others besides Rotten Belly distinguished themselves on 
this occasion, yet he being the leader received the greater share of 
applause. Others counted individual coups. he the aggregate. His 
name was sung through all the camps for months. His lodge was 
painted with rude drawings of the fight, he being the principal figure. 
The scalps, after having been danced, were suspended from his lodge 
poles. His shirt, leggings, even his buffalo robe were fringed with 
the hair of his enemies—the last being the most distinguished mark 
that can be borne on the dress of a warrior, and one never used but by 
him who has killed as many enemies as to make a robe with their 
scalps. 

It seldom happens in human affairs but that when the height of 
prosperity is reached some reverse follows. Too confident in their 
own powers and elated with their victory, contrary to the advice of 
their leader, the nation divided into several camps. They again, 
having once lost sight of their general and acknowledged head, divided 
into smaller parties, each moving in a different direction for hunting 
purposes. It had also been the custom of these Indians every year 
or two to visit other nations in and across the mountains for the 
purposes of trade and barter as has been mentioned. Sometimes they 
pushed their way as far as the Kiowas and Comanches and occasion- 
ally near the Spanish settlements of Taos and Santa Fe. In these 
travels they encountered some tribes with whom they were at peace 
but always rendered themselves liable to be cut off by larger nations 
considered enemies. At all events the profit ensuing from these 
adventures in horses, ornaments, etc., either bought of the one or 
stolen from the other, was sufficient inducement to make the attempt. 
They are a bold and active people and do not calculate much the danger 
when the expedition is likely to prove advantageous. 

At the time above mentioned, when the Crows had separated into 


No 33) OF THE CROW NATION—DENIG Al 


small parties for the purposes mentioned, a portion consisting of 30 
lodges or upward placed their camp on the headwaters of the river 
Cheyenne beyond the first spurs of the Rocky Mountains called the 
Black Hills. ‘The Cheyennes, a hostile nation from whom the river 
takes its name, had in a great measure abandoned that part of the 
country for several years before and moved on the South Fork of 
Platte River. Here, after remaining some time they suffered con- 
siderably from war parties of Comanches and were obliged to move 
back to their old district a little before the time the small body of 
Crows undertook their journey through it. The Cheyennes num- 
bered at that time about 300 lodges, were rich in horses, good warriors, 
and perhaps the best horsemen in the world. Perceiving the approach 
of their enemies they lay in ambush for them, attacked them in the 
night, and massacred nearly the whole. Some few men escaped in 
the darkness to carry the sad intelligence to their people, but the rest, 
men, women, and children, were indiscriminately put to death. The 
few captives taken, whether male or female, young or old, were re- 
reserved for torture which was inflicted upon them in every possible 
way their savage natures could suggest. 

In the course of a week or two those who fled reached some of the 
camps of their own people, who sent others in quest of the different 
portions of the nation scattered far and wide. Their principal aim 
now was to hunt up their chief, Rotten Belly, and request him once 
more to be their leader to revenge. He was then with the Flatheads, 
but these people travel fast and such was their haste to collect their 
forces that in a month’s time they had all rendezvoused in their own 
country with their chief at their head ready to start on the war path. 

The Crow camp on this occasion presented a grand and imposing 
appearance. They were all ordered to parade with their arms and 
accoutrements ready for the inspection of their chief. As at these 
times distinctions of rank are observed, each warrior wore those deco- 
rations which indicated his standing among his people. The general 
command of the whole devolved upon Rotten Belly, but other chiefs 
also are deserving of notice, such as Long Hair, the Little White Bear, 
Yellow Belly, Two Face, etc., each of whom had under his immediate 
command a large band of followers. These minor chiefs composed the 
Council of Rotten Belly, all being well versed in the art of Indian 
warfare besides having given proofs of their skill and bravery on 
many occasions under the eye of their head chief. The whole number 
of warriors thus assembled was about 600, or about one-fourth of the 
whole nation able to bear arms. They were also picked men, not 
young beginners but persons who had struck enemies, headed war 
parties, and given other evidences of their willingness and ability in 
the hour of danger. All these were mounted on fast-running horses 


42 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY (BULL. 151 


with splendid trappings. Their dresses were of the most gay and 
costly description, their arms in the very best order, and their faces 
painted in the usual manner when starting on hazardous excursions. 
Clan after clan passed in review before the chief, whose keen eyes 
were directed to their arms and animals, occasionally finding some fault 
with one or detecting some defect in another which was directed to 
be remedied. ‘The chief on parades of this description, or indeed on 
all public ceremonies, wore his whole insignia on different parts of 
his person and his horse. His war eagle bonnet reached from his 
head to the ground even when he was mounted on his tall and powerful 
war horse. His robe and dress were everywhere fringed with the 
scalp hair of his enemies. Where this was wanting the beholder was 
reminded of his rank by rude drawings explanatory of some of his 
bravest achievements at war. Very little noise accompanied this 
display of his troops. The cry of mourners for their lately killed rela- 
tives rang strange and wildly through the valley, and a gloomy, 
stern resolve was depicted on the faces of all the warriors. One sole 
idea, one mind, and one intent reigned, which was that of speedy 
and terrible revenge. 

After all had been thoroughly examined, approved, and enlisted, 
the chief called the head men in council, where, in a few words, he 
explained to them his decison and plan of action. This was to leave 
the camp where it then was, take the force he had aroused and pursue 
the Cheyennes until he found them, even into the heart of New 
Mexico. He took a solemn oath, in which he was joined by the whole 
council, never to return until they had taken full revenge for the loss 
of their friends. The substance of this decision was harangued 
through the camp, 2 days given for preparation, and on the third 
the whole party above described were moving rapidly toward the 
country of the Cheyennes. 

It is not our design to follow this party by describing each day’s 
march. It will be sufficient to state that they proceeded with great 
caution, which, with a correct knowledge of the country, enabled 
them to proceed without discovery. When near the place where 
their enemies were supposed to be, most traveling was done during 
the night, the party resting themselves and their animals in the day- 
time. Scouts were thrown several miles who inspected the foreground 
and conveyed intelligence to the main body behind to move forward. 
Not a foot of land was traveled over that had not undergone the 
scrutiny of the discoverers for hours from the neighboring hills. 
Much time was wasted in this way in order to take their enemies 
unprepared, for after arriving at the place where the battle had been 
fought they found the Cheyennes had fled with their camp some 
days previous. The trail made by a tolerably large camp is not 


nae OF THE CROW NATION—DENIG 43 


difficult to follow. The chief therefore could calculate with some de- 
gree of certainty how far they might be in advance and the time 
required to overtake them. Having with this view examined their 
late encampment and pointed out to his followers the different signs 
indicating the above intelligence, they proceeded to collect the human 
skulls and bones, which they judged very correctly to have once 
belonged to living persons of their own nation, being those that had 
been massacred. After crying over them, cutting themselves, and 
making promises to their spirits to take ample revenge, they dug 
large holes and interred them. This is contrary to their usual custom. 
Dead bodies are usually enveloped and placed in trees. But as these 
were but the bones and no other way of disposing of them presented 
itself, they used this method to secure even these poor remains from 
further insult by passing enemies. 

A grand speech was made over these ceremonies in which the chief 
artfully stirred up the spirit of his followers to a pitch of revenge 
bordering on desperation. Their vows were renewed, arms examined 
and at once the march was resumed more rapidly. 

In about 10 days after this occurrence they found themselves in 
the valley watered by the Arkansas where they saw such fresh indica- 
tions of the Cheyennes being at hand as induced Rotten Belly to 
proceed with great caution, having his best spies out in all directions. 
These soon brought certain information of their enemies’ camp, having 
approached it in the night and made a correct examination of its 
locality. The next night they were stationed along two creeks be- 
tween which the Cheyennes had placed their lodges. The Crows 
were concealed in the valley of the creeks among the wood and 
timber and at the distance of a mile from the camp, presenting an 
extended line on each side of men ranged from 10 to 20 paces apart. 
One detachment was headed by Rotten Belly and the other by the 
Little White Bear. Early in the morning, or as soon as day broke, 
seven Crows were sent down each creek who, running between the 
Cheyennes’ horses and their lodges, drove all the animals slowly in 
the direction of the main body of their people who lay in ambush. 
The Cheyennes perceiving but few persons taking away all their horses 
gave chase on foot at different distances as they could arm and run. 
Thus some 60 to 80 persons, the principal warrors of the camp, were 
led between the files who simultaneously raised the war whoop and 
encircled them. Of these not one escaped. There was but one rush, 
one discharge of arms and arrows, and the whole lay dead. Others 
now sallied out from the camp and were likewise cut off in detail. 
But few remained in the lodges. These were charged upon—some 
absconded but all males met with were put to death. The result of 
the whole was a complete victory on the part of the Crows. Upward 


44. BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL 151 


of 200 enemies were killed, 270 women and children were taken 
prisoners. More than 1,000 horses, besides all the camp baggage, 
merchandise, and ornaments, were divided among the Crows. Their 
loss on this occasion was but 5 men killed and some 10 or 15 wounded. 
The object of the expedition having been accomplished, the party 
traveled back to their own people elated with victory and satisfied 
with revenge.”$ 

The above circumstance brings up the life of the Crow chief to the 
year 1833, at which time the whole Crow Nation might number 800 
lodges, which, averaging 8 persons to each tent would make about 
6,400 souls. At this period emigration was fast flowing toward 
Arkansas and each year the trains of movers became more numerous 
over the fertile plains watered by that river. It so happened that 
this Crow party on their way home rejoicing came suddenly upon a 
caravan of emigrants, or rather the advanced guards of the Indians 
met with some stragglers belonging to the expedition. By the sign 
of waving their arms imitating the flying of a crow the Whites judged 
they belonged to that nation and, being aware of their friendly 
disposition, gave them warning not to approach the wagons as some 
of the Whites were then lying sick with smallpox. It was with great 
difficulty they were made to understand the nature of the danger 
attending their visit to the wagons, and either not believing the tale 
or not realizing the consequences they soon gathered round the emi- 
grants bargaining for horses and trafficking for other articles. It is 
but justice to these people to say that on this occasion they used their 
utmost endeavors to prevent the Indians from receiving the infec- 
tion. They tried to deal with them at a distance from the sick, but 
all to no purpose. Before they parted numbers had caught the 
pestilence. Before they reached their homes the disease commenced 
making its appearance and when they arrived in camp more than half 
the party were taken down by it. It is needless to dwell upon the 
misery, distress, and death that followed. The well-known fatality 
of the smallpox among savages has been often described. In this 
case it was the same as with other tribes—about one in six or seven 
recovered. As soon as possible after the arrival of the warriors the 
camp broke up into small bands each taking different directions. 
They scattered through the mountains in the hope of running away 

#8 We have found no contemporary account of this battle. However, nearly a century after the event? 
Lowie collected what he termed a ‘‘quasi-historical text” that certainly referred to it. This text told of a 
small Crow party under Dangling-foot wiped out by the Cheyenne; of Rotten Belly’s leadership of the 
revenge party; of their ambush of the enemy at the junction of a river and killing of more than 100 Cheyenne, 
with the loss of but 1 Crow Indian. The Crow casualty, it was claimed, was the younger brother of a Crow 
woman who had disobeyed Rotten Belly’s warning not to kill birds and had destroyed a meadow lark en 
route to the battleground (Lowie, 1935, pp. 230-236). Little Face told Bradley in 1876 of a great Crow 


victory on the Arkansas under Rotten Belly’s leadership, emphasizing also the episode of the killing of 8 
bird by a Crow woman whose relative was killed in the battle (Bradley, 1923, vol. 9, pp. 304-305). 


a ea OF THE CROW NATION—DENIG 45 


from the pestilence. All order was lost. No one pretended to lead 
or advise. The sick and dead were alike left for the wolves and each 
family tried to save itself. 

They certainly gained something by this course. At least the 
infection was not quite so fatal as among stationary tribes. For the 
rest of the fall and winter the disease continued its ravages but in the 
ensuing spring it had ceased. Runners were sent through their 
country from camp to camp and the remnant of the nation was once 
more assembled near the head of Big Horn River. Terrible was the 
mourning on this occasion. More than a thousand fingers are said to 
have been cut off by the relatives of the dead. Out of the 800 lodges 
counted the previous summer but 360 remained, even these but thinly 
peopled. From this time they have been slowly on the increase so as 
to raise about 460 lodges at the present date, 1856. Rotten Belly had 
escaped the infection altogether. The Little White Bear had recov- 
ered, but the ranks of his once proud force of warriors were terribly 
thinned.” 

The then-existing state of the nation called aloud for someone to 
restore them into some order so that they might not fall an easy prey 
to their old and powerful enemies, the Sioux and Blackfeet. It was 
at this time that this chief exhibited talents and wisdom seldom met 
with among savages and deserving the highest praise. He first took 
a census of all men, women, and children, then counted those able to 
bear arms, and lastly noted how many adults, both male and female, 
remained unmarried. These last he counciled to select wives and 
husbands without loss of time, but to avoid as much as possible con- 
nection with kindred. Here the women prisoners of the Cheyennes 
aided considerably to reorganize families. Some of them escaped 
during the general confusion consequent to the prevalent disease, and 
that nation having previously been visited by the smallpox, but few of 
the prisoners had died. By unremitting exertions, forced marriages, 
and equal distribution of arms, horses, and other property, this chief 
succeeded in restoring the nation to something like order. But much 
remained to be accomplished before they could successfully defend 
themselves against their powerful and warlike neighbors. He saw 
that something more was to be done to retrieve their hopes. Some 
grand attempt must be made to acquire property, arms, ammunition, 
and other things necessary to their national existence. 

20 We have found no other reference to a smallpox epidemic among the Crow in the early 1830’s. Neither 
Maximilian, who was on the Upper Missouri in 1833-34, nor Leonard, who was among the Crow in 1834-35, 
mention such an epidemic. Certainly there was smallpox on the Central Plains among the Pawnee, south- 
east of the Crow, in 1832 (Catlin, 1841, vol. 2, p. 24). If the Crow contracted the disease at that period they 
must have been infected by traders or other Indians, rather than by emigrants as Denig claimed. It is 


known that the Crow suffered little loss during the severe smallpox epidemic on the Upper Missouri in 1837 
(Halsey in Chardon, 1932, p. 395). 


46 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLL, 151 


It has always been the custom of these ignorant savages to consider 
white people the cause of all diseases, even of other evils in which they 
have no agency or object. They evince a great disposition to lay all 
blame on Whites, although they deny they are the cause of any good. 
The difference of habits and occupations, together with the supersti- 
tious awe with which all writing, pictures, and books are viewed, sug- 
gests to their disordered minds the idea of sorcery and supernatural 
powers, which they suppose are made subservient to bad ends. This 
they know would be the case with themselves had they the power to 
work unseen evil. Now if this be the case in ordinary events, that 
white people bring on distress, how much more so it must have been in 
the instance of the smallpox which they could distinctly trace to its 
origin when they encountered the emigrant train? Indians seldom 
reason. They act on impulse. Although the Whites referred to had 
used all means to prevent the pestilence from being communicated to 
them, yet they only recollected the cause of their present calamity and 
swore to take revenge on the authors of their misery. This was the 
prevalent idea stored up by Rotten Belly. But, as has been stated, 
these Indians are not murderous in their disposition, had heretofore 
been on the most friendly terms with Whites, and a good many of the 
head men and councilors were averse to doing any damage to the 
traders and trappers in the upper country for suffering brought upon 
them by strangers. 

All questions agitated in Indian councils must have unanimous 
approval to expect a successful result. This the Crow chief well knew. 
He also was aware that the aforesaid idea of the cause of their misery 
would fail to produce the desired effect if not supported by some 
other. It was a long-cherished wish of this leader, and one which his 
whole life tended to bring about, to rob the American Fur Co.’s fort 
at the Blackfeet situated near the mouth of Maria River. For this 
he could give many cogent arguments likely to obtain universal con- 
sent. The Blackfeet were their enemies, and that fort supplied them 
in guns, ammunition, knives, and other implements of war. That 
nation also had killed many white people, and those who dealt with 
them as friends after losing so many of their own color deserved no 
better fate than the Blackfeet. It was also urged that all war parties 
passing by the fort to the Crows were furnished with ammunition 
and that most of the Crow horses stolen by their enemies were pur- 
chased at the fort on their return. Another thing was that in their 
present reduced state they were unable to cope with the Blackfeet. 
Their arms had mostly been buried with their dead owners. They 
had but little ammunition. Numbers of their horses had been killed, 
lost, strayed, and stolen during their prostration by disease. They 
had in fact but little property of any kind. They were scarcely able 


Ae pol OF THE CROW NATION—DENIG 47 


to support themselves, much less to defend against a powerful nation. 
All these views were advanced by the chief in full council and many 
other arguments added showing that a stroke of this kind, if success- 
ful, would retrieve their losses, ruin their enemies, and revenge them- 
selves on the Whites—the primary cause of their present feeble con- 
dition. It was a popular measure and received the approval of the 
entire nation. But it was also firmly put forward by the other chiefs 
that, although they would help themselves to the property in the 
fort, yet they would not consent to killing the people therein. The 
result of their deliberations was that they would lay siege to the fort 
and compel the traders to evacuate, afterwards share the plunder, 
which at that time amounted to 15 or 20 thousand dollars of arms and 
other articles suitable for the purposes of hunting and war, besides 
large quantities of provisions, clothing, etc. 

This being decided upon, the Little White Bear was ordered to go 
forward with a party of 30 men and examine the country while the 
rest of the nation prepared to move the whole camp to the fort. So 
certain were they of success that they made about 1,000 packsaddles 
on which to carry the great booty that was to become theirs. The 
discovering party had left about 10 days when the main body was put 
in motion, which moved slowly with their tents and families through 
a district well stocked with buffalo, stopping a day or two occasionally 
to dry meat to enable them to sustain the siege. The whole amount 
of men able to bear arms in these 360 lodges was about 1,100 or 1,200 
but as has been observed they had but few arms and were otherwise 
badly furnished for war. 

The detachment under the Little White Bear traveled nearly the 
whole country of the Blackfeet without meeting any signs of their 
enemies who at that season were on a visit to some of the Hudson’s 
Bay Co.’s posts on the tributaries of the Saskatchewan, but who 
usually returned in the latter part of the summer to the Missouri. 

The party also approached near the fort in the night and made 
observations during the day, noting the number of persons in the 
establishment who pursued their usual outdoor occupations. From 
the neighboring woods and hills they could see unperceived, what num- 
ber of horses the Whites had, how they were guarded, and exam- 
ine that part of the ground most favorable to place their camp out- 
side the reach of the fort cannon. After having satisfied themselves 
in every particular without being discovered they started homeward to 
give a most favorable report to their leader. Everything seemed to 
encourage the expedition so far. Buffalo were numerous near the 
fort, therefore meat could be had to sustain the siege, and the absence 
of all enemies relieved their minds as to any difficulty in marching 
the camp thither. 


48 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLu. 151 


The return party went on their way in high spirits. So anxious 
were they to reach their people and urge the expedition forward that 
they neglected the usual caution observed by savages when traveling 
through a strange and hostile country. In place of inspecting the 
district, as they had done in their advance, they scattered over the 
hills shooting at everything in the way of game and raising the buffalo 
in every direction. This course soon attracted the notice of a large 
party of Blackfeet then on their way to war against the Crows. 
The former had all the advantage. Knowing from the signs men- 
tioned that strangers were near, they hid the main band and sent 
out scouts to reconnoiter, who in the course of the day brought intel- 
ligence of a small body of people whom they had seen. In the night 
the whole body of Blackfeet moved forward within sight of the 
campfires of their enemies. Here they halted and sent a few expert 
scouts to crawl near enough to hear them talk. In this they also 
succeeded, and returned stating their number together with the 
pleasant news that they were their old and inveterate enemies the 
Crows. The party of Blackfeet numbered about 160 and were 
headed by Spotted Elk, a tried and experienced warrior. 

About the break of day, while most of the Crows were yet asleep and 
their arms scattered carelessly around, they made the attack and in a 
short time most of the Crows were killed or disabled. Some fought 
like men but several saved themselves by flight. The Little White 
Bear was killed together with all but four who made out to escape and 
reach their own camp. Great was the mourning for their loss, and 
terrible vows taken for revenge. The Little White Bear was a great 
favorite with his people. He was a pleasant, liberal Indian, and being 
closely related to Rotten Belly, was his great support. Besides, his 
popularity in no way interfered with that of the head chief but rather 
reflected credit upon it by his submission to his orders and aid on all 
expeditions. On this occasion, the leader harangued through the 
camp his firm determination either to leave his body in the Blackfoot 
Country or to take ample revenge. The capture of the fort now became 
an object of more interest than ever. With the stores and ammunition 
that would thus be furnished they would be better able to contend 
with the powerful enemy whose country they were then invading. 

As soon as the first burst of mourning was over he again put the 
camp in motion and by rapid marches soon came near the trading 
establishment, though they used every possible precaution to conceal 
their approach. About the first of August 1835, they encamped in 
the pine mountain situated 20 miles east of the fort. Here they all 
assembled to deliberate for the last time and make arrangements for 
their proceedings before entering upon a course of action so different 
from their former operations. 


ae el OF THE CROW NATION—DENIG 49 


It was at this place also they fell in with a white trapper named 
James Coats, whom they well knew. He had made his spring hunt 
in the Rocky Mountains and was now on his way to the Blackfeet 
fort to dispose of his beaver. This man had been several years living 
and trapping with the Crow Indians, spoke their language tolerably 
well, and had some friends among them. Fearing, however, that if 
left to proceed he would disclose their intentions to the gentleman in 
charge of the fort, they forced him to remain. It has been said that 
Coats was in league with them for the purpose of pillaging the estab- 
lishment, and as his usual character was of that description of rene- 
gades it may have been so, ’tho as will appear his conduct does not 
merit this reproach. 

The American Fur Co., after considerable difficulty, had succeeded 
in opening a trade with the Blackfoot Indians in the year 1829. This 
large and fierce nation, previous to that period, visited the upper part 
of the Missouri along Maria and Belly Rivers only in the winter season 
in quest of beaver skins and buffalo robes, which they carried to the 
Hudson’s Bay Co.’s post on the Saskatchewan and traded for arms, 
etc., to continue their hunts. Owing to their constant encounters 
with the white trappers in the Rocky Mountains near the heads of the 
Missouri, they conceived a deadly hatred to all white men, which 
continues in a measure to this day. In these battles the trappers 
invariably came off victors when taken in a body, but were cut off 
in detail when separated into small parties for the purpose of hunting 
beaver. Upon the whole the amount of loss was on the side of the 
trappers, though on many occasions they had fought desperately and 
killed numbers of the Indians. 

In the year above mentioned, however, a few venturous persons 
with an interpreter were sent by the company with the pipe of peace, 
and a request to obtain permission to build a fort for their trade, 
promising to sell everything necessary for Indians at a lower rate than 
the British traders, and save the Indians the trouble of taking their 
skins to a distant market. After a good deal of parley this was agreed 
to. The post was built and well furnished with everything the Indians 
needed.® Still, however, suspicion existed on both sides. The fort 
was built of logs enclosed with high and strong pickets forming a 
square with the houses ranging along the sides and bastions on two 
corners built so as to command the four sides of the picketing. These 

% James Berger (or Bergier), a Canadian, who had become acquainted with the Blackfoot people and their 
language through earlier employment by the Hudson’s Bay Co., was the agent through whom the American 
Fur Co. was able to establish trade with these Indians, Kenneth McKenzie sent Berger at the head of a 
small party to the Blackfoot in the winter of 1830-31. In the spring he returned to Fort Union with a party 
of 70 or more Piegan. These Indians agreed to the construction of a trading post in their country. Fort 


Piegan was built at the mouth of the Marias that fall (Maximilian, 1906, vol. 23, pp. 90-91; Larpenteur, 
1898, vol. 1, pp. 109-115; Bradley, vol. 3, pp. 202-203). 


50 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY (Buty. 151 


bastions were furnished with cannon of small caliber, which, with a 
a good number of muskets, were always kept loaded in readiness for 
any attack from savages. From 30 to 50 men were usually stationed 
here during the fall and winter; most of them, however, were sent 
down the Missouri with the boats containing the robes and skins early 
in the spring leaving some 10 to 15 persons to pass the few summer 
months in the fort. In the month of August or September the annual 
supplies were received by a keel boat sent from Fort Union, hauling 
the same with a cordelle manned with 30 or 40 boatmen. Thus the 
fort received its reinforcement of men and stores before the Blackfeet 
returned from the English posts in the north, whither they always went 
in the summer,*! 

It was during this interim the Crows (who knew all these things) 
expected to take the fort by surprise or reduce the small garrison 
to surrender by siege. The gentleman in charge of the post at the 
time they arrived in its vicinity was Mr. Alexander Culbertson, an 
experienced and determined man, who has since risen to be Chief 
Agent of the company for the whole Upper Missouri.” He had 
been a trader years before among different Indian tribes, spoke 
several languages fluently, and was well versed in all things regarding 
the business and the character and customs of the Indians. This 
gentleman, ’tho unaware of the hostile intent of the Crows, or even of 
their approach, did not neglect the usual precautions to be observed 
in a country surrounded by fierce and warlike tribes. He kept up 
a guard in the bastions both day and night and has his people 
mostly employed within the fort, except the few who were detailed 
on horse guard. They kept the animals but a few paces from the 
fort gates. 

From the hills on the opposite side of the Missouri the advance 
scouts of the Crows could see and note undiscovered all that was 
going forward. ‘They were not long in perceiving that the fort was 
well guarded and a surprise impracticable. They therefore reverted 
to their alternative, to lay siege. With this view some 25 or 30 active 
men concealed themselves during the night under the bank of the 
river about 100 yards from the front gate and as soon as the horses of 
the fort were turned out to graze rushed between them and the 
guards and drove them off. The men fired but missed their aim. 
So this source of subsistence was taken away. Very shortly after, 

41 Fort McKenzie, built as successor to Fort Piegan in 1832, was located ‘‘on the north side of the Missouri, 
about six miles above the mouth of the Maria, and about forty miles below the Great Falls of the Missouri, 
on a beautiful prairie . . . about 225 feet from the river” (A. Culbertson in Audubon, 1897, vol. 2, pp. 
188-195). Maximilian spent a month at this fort in the late summer of 1833, and described the fort and the 
trade there in detail (Maximilian, 1906, vol. 23). 


#1 Biographical sketches of Alexander Culbertson and his Blood Indian wife, Medicine Snake Woman, 
appear in McDonnell, 1940, pp. 240-246. 


eo OF THE CROW NATION—DENIG 5l 


the whole camp made their appearance and pitched their lodges in 
three divisions commanding the three sides of the fort but at such a 
distance as to be out of reach of cannon. The front of the fort was 
left unguarded as the inhabitants, having neither boats nor horses, 
could not escape with any property, ’tho it gave them an opportunity 
of evacuating the place without danger by fording the river. 

As soon as this disposition of his people was made, Rotten Belly 
came to the fort with a few followers and requested permission to 
enter, stating if that was granted he would willingly bring back the 
stolen horses. He spoke very friendly, said they intended no harm 
to the place or people, that they were on their way to find the Black- 
feet, etc. The drift of this was he wished to see what force the place 
contained and to learn from some woman in the fort who spoke the 
Crow language what quantity of provisions were on hand. To all 
these requests and fine promises Mr. Culbertson turned a deaf ear 
and bade him go about his business. 

On the second or third day of the siege the trapper, Coats, came to 
the fort and told Mr. Culbertson for the first time the real purpose of 
the Crows, advising him by no means to admit any of them. This cer- 
tainly showed well on the part of Coats, but he also was particular in 
his enquiries regarding the amount of provisions on hand. It is 
thought he was sent by the Indians to ascertain this point. If so, he 
failed either in getting admission or information. It happened most 
unfortunately that the siege commenced at a time when the fort was 
actually in want of everything to eat. Buffalo had been scarce the 
previous winter. Very little dried meat had been made by the Black- 
feet and still less traded by the fort. All flour, bread, pork, etc., had 
been expended 2 months before, ’tho the garrison would have had no 
difficulty in supporting themselves were they not prevented from hunt- 
ing, as buffalo were numerous within sight of the fort. As the case 
then stood, but a few bales of dried meat formed their only resource. 
However, to produce an impression on the Indians that they had an 
abundance, nearly half was thrown over the pickets to them at dif- 
ferent times when they came around asking for meat. 

It may appear singular that the besieged would allow their enemies 
to come close to the pickets and parley every day without firing upon 
them, but those who are acquainted with the nature of the fur trade 
and the habits of the Indians will not be surprised. The company 
intended to locate trading establishments with all the tribes and to 
use conciliatory measures everywhere with the object of securing the 
friendship of all the nations. It was not their policy to use force 
except on occasions of self-defense and extreme emergencies. Had 
Mr. Culbertson killed any of these Indians it would have proved a 
great obstacle to the establishing of a trading post in their country, 


52 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Buny. 151 


and likewise would have cut off all hope of escape in the event of being 
obliged to evacuate. 

Matters being brought to this issue, the Indians generally remained 
quiet in their camp or hunting buffalo in the vicinity, at the same time 
keeping up a strict watch both night and day upon the fort, having 
come to the conclusion that ere long it would surrender for want of 
provisions. The garrison on the other hand, apprehending a long 
siege, reduced their rations to less than one-quarter of their customary 
allowance. Occasionally the Crows would come alongside and a 
parley would take place, though nothing important was thus elicited. 
At the end of 2 weeks the same state of thing existed, with the excep- 
tion that the people in the fort had exhausted everything in the way 
of provisions. Even the few favorite dogs remaining were served up 
and dished out with a sparing hand to all. They had next to resort 
to the rawhides which had been used as coverings to the dried meat. 
These, although covered with dirt, grease, and paint, were cut up and 
boiled to something like the consistency of glue, and this mixture 
of all that was disgusting was used to sustain life for a few days longer. 
The hides being consumed, there remained only the cords made of 
skin which also were cooked and eaten, and absolute famine presented 
itself. Things now assumed a serious aspect. Most of the engagees 
were Canadians who, however hardy when well fed, are always the 
first to complain or revolt in trying times, notwithstanding their 
bragging. These urged Mr. Culbertson to abandon the place before 
they all starved to death. Loud were their murmurs and deep their 
curses upon his head for what they termed his desire to see them all 
die. But this gentleman, having determined on his course of action, 
was not a man to be deterred in carrying it out, neither by the mur- 
murs of his own people nor the persevering siege of the Indians. 
He knew if they could preserve their lives for a short time, the whole 
Blackfeet Nation would soon arrive... The season for their appearance 
had already passed, as also that of the arrival of their annual keel 
boat up. Assistance might be expected from either or both these 
quarters. It appeared to him wrong and cowardly to surrender at 
the commencement of difficulty. 

However, day after day passed by bringing forth nothing but 
increasing hunger—old skins, shoes, and all offals were greedily de- 
voured. Still nothing turned up to encourage them. Men began to 
look at each other fiercely and that pitch of distress had been reached 
beyond which all would become too debilitated to act in any way. 
At this juncture Mr. Culbertson called up all hands and gave orders 
to prepare to give battle to the Crows as it was his intention to sally 
out in the morning with all his force and cannon, proceed near them 


ore OF THE CROW NATION—DENIG 53 


and fight as long as any remained of his now feeble command. He was 
led to think, and experience had taught him, that a few well-directed 
discharges of artillery would drive them away. It is true that by 
evacuating the place they would all have been gladly allowed to pass 
unharmed, as their lives were not what the savages sought, but their 
property. But Mr. Culbertson knew that by leaving the establish- 
ment his act would be misinterpreted and lead to the stigmatizing of 
his character. All who are acquainted with the persons in the employ 
of the fur companies are aware that no allowances are made for 
circumstances, and that there is a prevailing disposition to traduce 
the name of anyone, more especially if he stands in a high position. 
He therefore decided either to force his enemies to leave the place or 
to die at the head of his people. It is somewhat remarkable that this 
plan met with but little opposition. Hunger had made his men 
desperate. Even those who some time before feared death in the 
distance now stood boldly forward to face the reality. 

The siege had now occupied nearly a month. The camp was well 
supplied with meat and everything betokened a determination on the 
part of the Indians to hold out much longer. All hands then were 
armed and supplied with ammunition, having been informed that the 
sally would be made about midday following. This was about the 
time most of the young and efficient warriors were either out guarding 
their horses at a distance or hunting in different directions. It was a 
sorrowful night in the fort. All felt that their chance of success was 
doubtful, their death little short of certainty, but their wretched 
famished condition threw over the whole a gloom of sullen, silent 
resolve. 

The eventful morning arrived; steadily and quietly this determined 
man proceeded to carry out his views, but it wanted yet a few hours 
to the time. When nearly ready the sentinels from the bastions ob- 
served some unusual commotion in the camp. Horses were being 
caught, warriors running about half armed, others riding off in various 
directions. Old men harangued, the council was called, and every- 
thing denoted some new and important event. The cause of all this 
was explained when on looking to the northwest small blue wreaths 
of smoke rose up in several places which were hailed with a shout of 
joy by all the fort. ‘The Blackfoot camp, our friends, our friends,’’ 
was the cry of all. Arms were put away and once more smiles were 
seen on the lank and haggard countenances of these poor people. 
The Crows sent on discovery soon returned, the whole camp began 
taking down their lodges, packing their horses in great haste, and 
before the afternoon the whole camp had moved across the river and 
were out of sight. That same evening some Blackfeet runners arrived 


54 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY (BULL. 151 


and the next day 800 lodges of these people encamped at the fort 
bringing plenty of meat.* 

It is not our intention to give lengthy descriptions of circumstances 
of this kind or much more might be added that would interest the 
general reader. Strange things occur in this wild country. Singular 
emergencies arise which could be wrought up into romantic narrative. 
But we must not lose sight of the great Chief Rotten Belly, a sketch 
of whose life is here attempted. 

The Blackfeet, as soon as they had been made aware of the conduct 
and number of the Crows, called a council but could not agree as to 
the expediency of pursuit. It was argued that although the Crows 
were inferior in numbers yet they were in a desperate state, greatly 
disappointed, and a bloody battle would be the result without much 
advantage to be gained. Indians usually reason in this way. They 
seldom risk much to gain little. They do not fight grand battles 
merely from a thirst for blood. Great disparity of force must exist 
before slaughter commences. Equality of numbers mostly prevents 
attack, in fact always does when not counterbalanced by the pros- 
pects of plunder or national revenge. These considerations had 
weight enough with chiefs and warriors of the Blackfeet to defer 
their operations against their enemies until a more favorable oppor- 
tunity presented, when they could take them by surprise or cut them 
off in detail according to the usual custom of savage warfare. 

The Crows, on the other hand, were glad to escape from their well- 
armed and numerous enemies. But having got beyond immediate 
danger they were halted by their chief. Rotten Belly was far from 
being satisfied. He had so far failed in every point he undertook to 
perform. His vows remained unfulfilled with the exception that 
should he fail he would leave his body in the country of the Blackfeet. 
This was yet in his power and was what he secretly resolved upon; 
for he knew this defeat and disgrace would lead to his downfall among 
his people. 

While deliberating how to act so as in some way to regain his 
position and recover in a manner the ground he had lost, chance 
threw in his way what perhaps he would have most desired. It 
happened that a war party of 20 Blackfeet had been in the country 
of the Crows, and not finding them was on its return to its own 

33 This siege actually occurred in June 1834. J. Archdale Hamilton, in a letter to Kenneth McKenzie, 
written from Fort Union September 17, 1834, stated that the Crow compelled the defenders ‘‘to live on 
Cords Parfieche for 15 days’’ (letter in Missouri Hist. Soc., St. Louis). Yet the detailed account of the 
siege in ‘Extracts from Mr. Culbertson’s Journal Kept at Fort McKenzie, Blackfeet Indian Country in 
1834,’’ copied by Audubon at Fort Union in 1843, states that it lasted only 2 days, June 25-26, and that a 
party of Blood Indians brought meat to the defenders on June 30 (Audubon, 1897, vol. 2, pp. 178-180). 
Bradley’s two accounts of this siege, presumably based upon information furnished him by Culbertson 
four decades after the action, also differ in detail from the Denig version on some points (Bradley, vol. 2, 


pp. 181-182; vol. 3, pp. 210-215). Probably the bare facts of this dramatic siege had become somewhat 
embroidered through two decades of verbal retelling before Denig wrote his version of the action in 1856. 


Noss) OF THE CROW NATION—DENIG 55 
nation. These proceeding in a careless way were discovered by the 
Crows while traveling. The chief and a few warriors in advance of 
the camp charged upon them, killed two, and the rest took refuge in 
one of the small wooden forts made by war parties, everywhere to 
be met with in the Blackfeet district. It was urged by most of the 
Crows that they should leave them alone, as they had already killed two 
without any harm to themselves, and by attacking the fortress they 
would undoubtedly lose some people. All agreed to this except Rotten 
Belly, who would have charged alone into the fort, but was detained 
by his people who held the bridle of his horse. It had not escaped 
the notice of the Crows that, since turning their backs on the trader’s 
fort, this chief was dressed in his most gay and costly war suit. He 
wore his shirt and leggings fringed with human hair, his war eagle 
feather bonnet, and his robe of state covered with the scalp locks of 
his enemies hung over his shoulders. All this display on the occasion 
of defeat betokened some deadly determination which his friends, 
both by entreaty and gentle force, attempted to prevent. After 
disputing with them for a short time he promised to go away along 
with the rest and leave their enemies for some other time when they 
could destroy them with less risk to themselves. His horse being set 
free of the grasp of his followers, he made him prance around as though 
in sport, then shouting aloud, ‘‘One last stroke for the Crow Nation; 
two Blackfeet cannot pay for the loss of The Little White Bear,’ he 
rushed at full speed upon his foes. Making his charger leap the small 
stockade into the midst of his enemies, he pinned one to the ground 
with his lance, but received a dozen arrows in his body and fell to 
rise no more. His people followed close behind, fell upon the Blackfeet, 
and cut them off to a man without further loss than that of their 
leader. But this was to them the greatest that could happen. In 
conformity with his request on several occasions, his body was wrapped 
in its warrior shroud and deposited on a tree in the country of the 
Blackfeet to be, as he said, a terror to them even after death. 

The lives of most Indian chiefs bear a strong resemblance. The 
history of one is that of all—the same battles, victories, defeats, and 
deaths proceed from their unvarying wars with their enemies, and 
are likely to continue as long as any tribes remain. Among all these 
nations, where daily struggles take place for each others’ lives and 
property, instances of individual daring arise which, among civilized 
men in what is called honorable warfare, would immortalize their 
names but which, for want of record, must soon be forgotten. The 
fame of any Indian chief is but short-lived. A few days of mourning 
is all that can be devoted to his memory. Their existence demands 
action, their force a leader. Their disposition is ambitious, and long 
before the death of their favorite chief takes place, some other candi- 


909871—53——_5 


56 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLn. 151 


date for his office is spoken of and approved. This often happens 
before the decease of a leader. Any great defeat or mismanagement 
on his part would transfer the power to another who had given proof 
of his bravery and abilities. 

The loss of Rotten Belly was deeply felt and regretted by the 
Crows, perhaps more than that of any other man either before or 
since his time. Even to this day he is spoken of as the Chief, or the 
Great Chief.* Other men now took charge of different portions of the 
Crows who separated into several bands and resumed their old habits 
and hunting grounds. 

OF TRADE AND WAR 


The year after the above event, a fort was built at the mouth of 
Rose Bud River on the Yellowstone for the trade with this nation. 
It furnished them with arms and other necessaries, and they slowly 
recovered from the disastrous effects of the smallpox. 

Before a trading post had been permanently placed in their country 
the Crows carried their furs to the Arikara and Mandan forts on the 
Missouri and disposed of them there. At that time they hunted 
nothing but beaver, the skins of which were then valuable and easy 
of transportation. They had not as yet turned their attention to pre- 
paring buffalo robes for sale, making only a sufficiency for the use of 
themselves and families. When the company paid them good prices 
for their robes it gave them an opportunity to equip themselves better 
for hunting and war then heretofore and tended considerably to re- 
strict their wandering habits. The camps remained stationary during 
the fall and winter months near the fort, where they employed their 
time in killing buffalo, dressing their hides, and purchasing such 
articles as they most wanted either for defense, convenience, or barter 
for horses with the tribes farther in the mountains. 

Still war was kept up, mostly in the spring and summer, with the 
different nations mentioned who were considered enemies. In these 
conflicts the Crows generally lost. At least, they being the smaller 
tribe, the fall of every warrior or hunter was more severely felt. 
All winter parties of Blackfeet, Sioux, Assiniboines, and other hostile 
nations hovered round their encampments, killed stragglers, and drove 

34 Denig’s biography of this important Crow chief is the most detailed story of his life that is known. 
It is corroborated in part and expanded in the works of other writers. Curtis was told that Rotten Belly 
was second chief of the tribe at the time of the first Crow treaty with the United States, at the Mandan 
Villages, August 4, 1825, although he refused to sign that treaty. Maximilian witnessed the presentation 
of a medal to Rotten Belly by John A. Sanford, Indian Subagent, at the Mandan Villages in June 1833. 
He described Rotten Belly as ‘‘a fine tall man, with a pleasing countenance” who “‘had much infiuence 
over his people.”” This chief was well known to such prominent fur traders as Robert Campbell, N. C. 
Wyeth, and Captain Bonneville. News of Rotten Belly’s death in battle with the Blackfeet was entered 
in Fort Pierre Journal, August 8, 1834. In 1876, the Crow Indian, Little Face, furnished Bradley a number 
of stories illustrating Rotten Belly’s war record and the potent supernatural powers attributed to him 


by his tribesmen (Bradley, vol. 9, pp. 299-307; Curtis, 1909, pp. 47-48; Chardon, 1932, pp. 4, 253; Irving, 
1851, pp. 189-191, 194-196, 352, 415-416; Maximilian, 1906, vol. 22, p. 351). 


ae OF THE CROW NATION—DENIG 57 


off numbers of their horses. On the return of the summer months the 
Crows went in large numbers to revenge these coups and often bloody 
battles ensued with considerable loss on both sides. 


FACTORS LIMITING THE INCREASE OF CROW POPULATION 


No great national calamity overtook them until the year 1848, 
when the smallpox again made its appearance, they having received 
the infection from the Snake Indians with whom they were at peace; 
the Snakes having contracted the pestilence in their dealings with 
emigrants passing along the Platte Trail. It does not appear to have 
been nearly so destructive as the same disease at the former period 
mentioned, ’tho numbers of children died. In 1849 the greater part 
of the Crow Nation was visited by an influenza of so destructive a 
nature as to take off about 600 persons, among whom were some of 
the best warriors and wise councilors.*® Since the last date no great 
havoc has been wrought by epidemics, ’tho they cannot be said to be 
much on the increase. 

Several things tend to prevent their augmentation. Setting aside 
the loss by war and deaths by different maladies incident to human 
life, the propagation of the venereal disease among them appears to 
be the greatest bar to their prosperity, both by its fatal nature and 
the inability of the tainted persons to procure wives or husbands. 
Infanticide is also publicly practiced by two-thirds of the married 
women. Unwilling to be troubled by raising their children, they either 
kill them in utero, or as soon as brought forth, ’tho the former manner 
is the most common. Abortions are produced by administering 
blows on the abdomen or by pressing upon it with a stick, leaning 
their whole weight thereon and swinging to and fro. The foetus is 
thus ejected at different periods of its growth, varying from 3 to 7 
months. As they are not aware of the danger attending the practice 
many women die in attempting it. It has been computed by those 
well acquainted with this tribe that three-fourths of all the women 
who die are lost in this manner. Usually the husband consents to it, 
or at least does not punish his wife for so doing, but of late years the 
voices of all or most of the men are against the crime and it is becom- 
ing more rare. The act now reflects disgrace on both the father and 

35 Indian Agent Vaughan claimed that the Crow on the headwaters of Powder River caught the smallpox 
from the Shoshone, who had contracted it from California emigrants, in the fall and winter of 1851. This 
epidemic, he said, reduced Crow numbers by 30 lodges, killing some 400 members of the tribe in a short 
time (Ann. Rep. Comm. Ind. Aff., 1853, p. 354). 

% Kurz (1937, pp. 215-216), on October 28, 1851, wrote that influenza jhad been “‘ dangerously tne Snes , 
among the Crow the previous winter, killing some 150 members of the tribe “‘among them some of their 
most prominent tribesmen.” Some of the Crow believed Denig had inflicted the disease upon them in 


retaliation for their theft of 10 horses from Fort Union. ‘To prevent further spread of the disease .. . 
the Indians brought back nine of the stolen horses.’’ 


58 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLy. 151 


mother of the child and, if not done so frequently, it is at least con- 
cealed from the public.” 

This disgusting and unnatural custom is not peculiar to the Crows. 
It exists to a more or less extent among all nations of the Upper 
Missouri but not in such a degree as to effect much their natural 


increase. 
CROW HERMAPHRODITES 


Another thing worthy of note with these Crows is the number of 
Berdéches or hermaphrodites among them. Most civilized commu- 
nities recognize but two genders, the masculine and feminine. But 
strange to say, these people have a neuter. This does not proceed 
from any natural deformity, but from the habits of the child. Occa- 
sionally a male child, when arrived at the age of 10 or 12 years or 
less, cannot be brought to join in any of the work or play of the boys, 
but on the contrary associates entirely with the girls. Now all the 
amusements of boys and girls are marked and distinct. The former, 
at a very early age, are instructed in the use of the bow, shooting at 
birds, guarding horses, trapping rabbits and other small game, while 
the latter are taught to cook, dress skins, make moccasins, work with 
beads and porcupine quills all articles of clothing, and other servile 
and feminine acquirements. Children of different sexes seldom asso- 
ciate either in their work or play, ’tho as has been observed, instances 
do occur in which a boy acquires all the habits of a girl, notwith- 
standing every effort on the part of his parents to prevent it. The 
disposition appears to be natural and cannot be controlled. When 
arrived at the age of 12 or 14, and his habits are formed, the parents 
clothe him in a girl’s dress and his whole life is devoted to the labors 
assigned to the females. He is not to be distinguished in any way 
from the women, ’tho is seldom much respected by either sex. The 
parents regret it very much but to no purpose. There used to be some 
five or six of these hermaphrodites among the Crows, ’tho at the 
present time there are but two or three. One of these has been 
married and presents the anomaly of husband and wife in the same 
dress attending to the same domestic duties.* 

37 Denig (1930, p. 521) stated, ‘‘It is not far from the correct number if we state that one-eighth of the chil- 
dren are destroyed in utero or after birth by the Crow women.” 

3% Sexual abnormalities among the Crow were mentioned by both earlier and later writers. In 1806 
Alexander Henry wrote, ‘“‘I am informed they are much addicted to unnatural lusts, and have no scruple 
in satisfying their desires with their mares and wild animals fresh killed’? (Henry and Thompson, 1897, 
vol. 1, p. 399). Maximilian (in 1833) stated, ‘‘They have many bardaches, or hermaphrodites, among 
them, and exceed all other tribes in unnatural practices’’ (Maximilian, 1906, vol. 22, p. 354). Father De 
Smet described a Crow warrior who “‘in consequence of a dream had put on women’s clothing and sub- 
jected himself to all the labors and duties of that condition, so humiliating to an Indian’”’ (Chittenden and 
Richardson, 1905, vol. 3, p. 1017). While on the Crow Reservation.in 1902, Simms was informed that there 
were three hermaphrodites in the tribe and that ‘‘a few years ago an Indian agent endeavoured to compel 
these people, under threat of punishment, to wear men’s clothing, but his efforts were unsuccessful’’ 


(Simms, 1903, pp. 580-581). Lowie reported but one surviving berdache on that reservation in 1912 (Lowie, 
1912, p. 226). 


aera OF THE CROW NATION—DENIG 59 


THE CROW TOBACCO-PLANTING CEREMONY 


Before closing our remarks on these people, some account of their 
superstitions appears to be demanded. The power ascribed to their 
priests and medicine men differ in many respects from those of other 
tribes. Wherever this is the case, separate descriptions and explana- 
tions have been promised in former parts of this work. Hereafter 
the religion of all the tribes will be minutely considered, its elements 
disclosed and its effects commented on; but in this place it will only 
meet with notice so far as to inform of some rites and ceremonies which 
have a great influence on their national character and government. 

The term ‘‘medicine men,” as now used, has no reference to those 
who use drugs to cure diseases, but to such as are thought by the 
entire population to possess superhuman powers to bring about 
events. Sometimes these persons are supposed to be gifted with the 
spirit of prophecy, or to work evil ends. This is a prevalent idea 
with the majority of the roving tribes and will meet with further 
explanation. But the Crows center ali power in the Tobacco Planters. 
These are their own people and exhibit no outward difference either 
in dress or manners from their neighbors, ’tho they are believed to 
have control over events, seasons, the elements, animals, and all 
things usually attributed to the works of an overruling Providence. 
In fact they have no idea of a Supreme Being, a first cause, or of a 
future state. Neither do the great lumenaries the sun and moon 
appear to them objects of much veneration, ’tho they are somewhat 
afraid of thunder. 

This nation has from time immemorial planted tobacco. They 
have carefully preserved the original seed discovered with the conti- 
nent, which produces leaves similar to the cultivated plant in the 
Western States and has something of its taste and flavor. They 
believe that as long as they continue to preserve the seed and have in 
their homes some of the blossom they will preserve their national 
existence. They say as soon as none is found they must pass away 
from the face of the earth. Several other traditions also tend to the 
continuation of the custom of tobacco planting. Among the first is 
that those who fulfill the orders of their ancestors in this respect shall 
be endowed with supernatural powers, to bring rain, avert pestilence, 
control the wind, conquer disease, make the buffalo come near their 
camp, and increase the number of all kinds of game; that they can in 
fact bring about any event not dependent upon ordinary human 
possibility. This is confined to the few who plant the tobacco, and 
who, knowing the power and standing thus to be gained, are very 
anxious to keep up the superstition with the ceremonies attending it. 
Sometimes, with a view to acquiring property, one of them will sell 
his right or powers to some aspiring individual. In this case the 


60 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLL. 151 


candidate gives everything he has in the world—all his horses, dresses, 
arms, even his lodge and household utensils—to pay for the great 
medicine and honor to become a Tobacco Planter. On an occasion of 
this kind the applicant is adopted with great ceremonies into the band 
of Planters. His flesh is cut and burned in large and deep furrows 
around the breast and along his arms, leaving for a long time dangerous 
and disgusting wounds difficult to heal. He is also obliged to go 
several days without food or water. After passing through this 
ordeal, he is furnished with some tobacco seed, in exchange for every- 
thing that he possesses. In this way the rite is perpetuated, and never 
has received the least check or interruption. On the contrary, it 
appears to become more honorable from being more ancient and from 
the difficulties attendant on becoming a conductor of the ceremony. 
The customary place for the planting of the tobacco is on Wind 
River at the base of the mountain having that name, ’tho it is not 
confined to this spot alone. Other places are sometimes sought more 
convenient for the camp when the season arrives. At an appointed 
spot then the whole nation are invited to meet in a certain moon, 
which corresponds with about the middle to the last of April. When 
encamped in the vicinity the women of the camp are detailed to clear 
off all bushes and rubbish from a space of ground about half an acre 
square. Even the cleaning of this place is accompanied with the 
beating of drums, singing, and smoking at intervals. This usually 
occupies the first day. On the next the spot is hoed, either with iron 
instruments or with the shoulder blades of buffalo. The latter is the 
primitive utensil. This operation consumes the greater part of the 
second day. The third is ushered in by loud haranguing, feasting, 
singing by the Planters, and all married men and women, mounted on 
horseback, proceed in file to the neighboring trees and cut each a 
faggot of wood which is tied together and carried before them on the 
horse. The women take precedence, and it is distinctly understood 
that the female who brings in the first bundle of wood must be one 
who has had no illicit connection with any man but her husband. 
If she attempts to deceive, the person who is aware of, and a partici- 
pator in, her guilt steps forward and cries aloud, “she is lame,” or 
unfit for the post of honor; in which case she is forever disgraced. 
This has happened more than once. Indeed so rare is a virtuous 
woman in this nation that the above requisition has several times been 
nearly the cause of an entire suspension of the custom; for they would 
rather relinquish the whole than alter the manner in which the cere- 
mony has been transmitted to them by their forefathers. Hereto- 
fore, however, they have succeeded in finding one virtuous female, or 
one said to be so, ’tho, as has been observed, the search has been 
attended with difficulty. The next important step taken in this great 


es OF THE CROW NATION—DENIG 61 


national solemnity is to select a man who will solemnly swear he has 
never slept with any of his relatives’ wives more nearly akin than a 
brother-in-law, that tie included. This individual is found previ- 
ously to their going after the wood and he brings in the second faggot. 
Singular as it may appear, the moral character of the males is not 
superior to the female part of the community, and several weeks have 
often been employed in the seeking and approving of a man free from 
the crime of incest. At one time so great was their anxiety to proceed 
with their custom, and so rare was the proper person that they were 
obliged to employ one of the gentlemen of the Fur Company to fill 
the office. Therefore, it may safely be conjectured that if no improve- 
ment takes place in their moral condition the rite of tobacco planting 
will soon be at an end. To proceed. When the two loads of wood 
are thus cast upon the cleared spot, all the rest follow after, one at a 
time laying down his burden with great solemnity, encouraged by the 
Planters, who are stationed round singing and drumming. Beside 
each of the medicine men are placed pans and bowls of cooked meat, 
tongues, pemmican, dried berries, and other eatables considered by 
them as delicacies. ‘Those who lay down a bundle of wood go and 
seat themselves around these dishes and eat as much as they can. 
Great quantities are consumed, which have been laid up for months 
beforehand in anticipation of the above ceremony. When the wood 
is all collected, it is separated into four large piles, one of which is 
placed on each corner of the square patch intended for cultivation. 
Then these piles are all separately smoked to and invoked. Indeed, 
any and every movement they make during the whole performance 
partakes of a sacred character. The wood is then strewn equally over 
the surface of the place, fire put to it and burned to ashes. The whole 
is rehoed and threshed with willows, which serves the purpose of 
harrowing. Much time is employed in invocation and other ceremony 
over the tobacco seed, which in the end is mixed with fine earth and 
ashes and scattered over the garden. The place is then threshed with 
brush a second time for the purpose of burying the seed. 

Having arrived at this point of the ceremony a grand medicine 
lodge next claims their attention. This is made by forming a large 
tent with 8 or 10 lodges connected by poles, sufficiently commodious 
to contain 200 or 300 persons. The interior is decked out with cloths 
of brilliant colors, beads, and various other ornaments. Large 
feasts are cooked and placed therein, and a full band of drums, rattles, 
bells, and whistles keeps up a deafening and continual noise. Danc- 
ing goes forward after the eatables have been dispatched. These 
dances are conducted with strict decorum, as they, with all the rest of 
the ceremony, are supposed to bring about a state of happy and 
prosperous national affairs. Several persons on these occasions cut 


62 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Buuy. 151 


and scar their arms and bodies, and exert themselves in dancing 
without food or water for such a length of time that they are carried 
away in an unconscious condition from which some are with difficulty 
revived. 

This amusement, or rather devotion, usually occupies three more 
days, at the end of which time they move camp and march about half 
a mile, the next day about a mile, the third and fourth about as much 
more. The idea is that they do not wish the tobacco to think they 
are running away from it, but are so fond of it as scarcely to have the 
wish to depart. 

As soon as possible after the seed is sown it is desirable to have rain 
that the same may be washed into the earth and take root. One of 
the Planters then undertakes to produce rain, and by his desire 
merchandise and other property is collected from the band often to the 
amount of 2 or 3 thousand dollars. These articles are freely given to 
the medicine man by the rest, considering them as sacrifices to the 
clouds. The Tobacco Planter, after hanging up the different articles 
on the bushes around, commences a series of smokings and prayers to 
the heavens forrain. If he succeeds, the whole of the sacrifices belong 
to him and he acquires increase of fame. But if no rain falls, the 
goods are suffered to lie there, ’tho no blame is cast on the Planter, for 
he cunningly asserts that the time is not propitious and that some of 
the nation have not fulfilled their promises, etc. Occasionally he 
takes advantage of clouds gathering to predict rain, which would most 
likely fall without his aid. But they are so blind and bigoted that 
they actually believe in his power to produce it. One of these Planters 
can do anything (so they think), can make the grass grow, make 
buffalo plenty, and foretell any great calamity arising from disease or 
attacks from enemies. 

When all this parade is over the camp resumes its ordinary occupa- 
tions and traveling, until, about the latter end of August, it marches 
again to the tobacco field, when they pull the plant up and pack it into 
sacks. The seed is separated from the blossom and preserved; the 
stock and leaves are carefully stored away, only to be used on great 
occasions such as peacemaking with other nations, and religious rites 
of a national character. It is also used in extreme cases of sickness, 
not as a drug, but in their usual superstitious manner of smoking, 
believing its efficacy to consist in the article itself, rendered sacred and 
powerful by ceremony, and the smoke emitted through the nostrils of 
a Tobacco Planter.® 

3* Curtis obtained a tradition to the effect that No Vitals, who quarreled with the Hidatsa over the buffalo 
and led the Crow Indians westward to become their first chief, originated the tobacco ceremony. Lowie 
found the Crow regarded the tobacco as their distinctive medicine, equivalent to the medicine pipe of the 
Hidatsa. Denig’s early description of the tobacco-planting ceremony contains many details lacking in 


accounts of this ceremony based upon field investigations a half century later, and after the Crow had settled 
down to sedentary reservation life. (Compare Curtis, 1909, pp. 61-67; Simms, 1904, and Lowie, 1919, entire.) 


Aarener PAP. OF THE CROW NATION—DENIG 63 


The foregoing is a rapid sketch of this principal national religious 
rite. There are many others of smaller note, resembling in every 
respect those of other tribes, which will be more minutely discussed in 
another place. 

CHIEF LONG HAIR 


Since the time of Rotten Belly no great man has ruled the nation. 
It is at present separated into smaller communities, each governed 
by a chief. The principal man after the chief above named was 
Long Hair, so called from having hair on his head 36 feet in length. 
Although it may appear singular that any human being should be in 
possession of this length of hair, yet it is nevertheless true. Encour- 
aged by a dream, when a young man, that he would become great in 
proportion to the growth of his hair, he tied weight to it, which aided 
its growth, and every few months separated the locks into small 
parcels which were stuck together with the gum of the pine tree. In 
this way none of his hair could be lost. If any fell out the gum pre- 
vented it from dropping. At the age of 50 his hair was the length 
mentioned, ’tho no single stalk was longer than usual among females 
of our own color. This cumbersome bunch of hair he rolled up into 
two large balls and carried them in front of his saddle while riding. 
When on foot, the rolls were attached to his girdle. On great festivals 
he mounted on horseback, unrolled his hair, and rode slowly round 
the camp with his scalplocks trailing some distance behind him on 
the ground. 

Whether or not it was this peculiarity that brought him into notice 
we cannot say. No doubt it aided considerably, ’tho he also is spoken 
of asa brave man. He rose to high power, was well liked, and died 
a few years since.” At this date, 1856, the Crows have peace with 
the Assiniboines and some bands of Sioux with whom they occasion- 
ally reside and exchange presents. 


CHIEF BIG ROBBER 


At the treaty of Laramie in 1851, The Big Robber was made chief 
of the nation by the United States Commissioners, but since that 


40 “The Long Hair’”’ was the first signer of the Crow’s first treaty with the United States at the Mandan 
Villages, August 4, 1825. Bradley stated that Long Hair was head chief of the numerically superior Moun- 
tain Crow, Rotten Belly head chief of the River Crow, after the division of the tribe due to jealousy between 
these leaders. Little Face, Bradley’s principal Crow informant, considered Long Hair the greater of the 
two leaders. Leonard met Long Hair in the fall of 1834, shortly after Rotten Belly’s death. He termed 
Long Hair “‘the principal chief or Sachem of the nation and is quite a worthy and venerable old man of 75 
or 80 years of age,’”’ who ‘“‘worships nothing but his hair, which is regularly combed and carefully folded up 
every morning into a roll about three feet long by the principal warriors of his tribe.”” Leonard said that 
Long Hair’s tresses were ‘‘no less than nine feet eleven inches long.” Maximilian claimed they were ‘‘ten 
feet long,”’ and Catlin said Messrs. Sublette and Campbell assured him ‘“‘they had measured his hair by 
correct means, and found it to be ten feet and seven inches in length; closely inspecting every part of it at 
the same time, and satisfying themselves that it was the natural growth” (Bradley, vol. 9, pp. 312-313; 
Catlin, 1841, vol. 1, pp. 49-50; Leonard, 1904, pp. 255-257; Maximilian, 1906, vol. 22, p. 353). 


64 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLL. 151 


time he has not governed his people. In place of remaining with the 
greater portion, he is generally found near the emigrant trail along 
the Platte with a few lodges who do nothing but beg and steal, and 
contract diseases from passing emigrants which sweep off numbers 
of his people. He is now despised by the other bands. He has no 
command, is not respected, as much for seeking other districts as for 
not remaining and assisting in defending his own country. 


PROSPECTS FOR INTERTRIBAL PEACE 


A portion of the nation now passes the winter with the Assiniboines, 
with whom they make out to agree, ’tho the latter steal their horses 
to some extent. But the Crows are solicitous for peace with all tribes 
except the Blackfeet, with whom they wish to be at war as long as 
one of them remains. 

The late treaty with the Blackfeet may have the effect of annexing 
the Piegans and Gros Ventres of the Prairie to their list of friends, 
but the Blood Indians and Blackfeet will never be brought to live at 
peace with any of the surrounding nations.* 


BIOGRAPHY OF WOMAN CHIEF 


Perhaps the only instance known of a woman attaining the rank of 
chief among any of the tribes whose histories we attempt has happened 
among the Crows. It has ever been the custom with these wandering 
people to regard females in an inferior light in every way. They have 
no voice in council, or anything to say at assemblies formed by men for 
camp regulations. Even the privilege of intimate conversation with 
their husbands is denied them when men are present. They have 
their own sphere of action in their domestic department, from which 
they are never allowed to depart, being considered by their husbands 
more as a part of their property than as companions. 

This being the case, they seldom accompany parties to war. Those 
who do are of the lowest possible description of character, belong to 
the public generally, have no home or protection. Sometimes females 
of this stamp are taken along to make and mend shoes, dry meat, cook, 
etc., but they are never allowed to take part in battle. Even if they 
were, their inexperience in the use of weapons would soon cause their 
death. For such as these there is no opportunity to distinguish them- 
selves. They must be content with the station of servant and that 
of the very lowest kind of drudgery. 

The case we are about to relate is that of a Gros Ventre of the 
Prairie woman taken prisoner by the Crows when about 10 years of age. 

41 Denig’s hope for peace between the Crow and Piegan following the first Blackfoot treaty with the 


United States, at the mouth of the Judith River, October 17, 1855, was not realized. For four decades after 
that treaty was signed the Piegan continued to make raids upon the Crow camps. 


eo apie OF THE CROW NATION—DENIG 65 
From a personal acquaintance of 12 years with this woman we can 
lay her true history before the reader. 

Shortly after her capture the warrior to whom she belonged per- 
ceived a disposition in her to assume masculine habits and employ- 
ments. As in the case of the Berdéche who, being male inclines to 
female pursuits, so this child, reversing the position, desired to acquire 
manly accomplishments. Partly to humor her, and partly for his own 
convenience, her foster father encouraged the inclination. She was 
in time placed to guard horses, furnished with bow and arrows, em- 
ploying her idle time in shooting at the birds around and learning to ride 
fearlessly. When further advanced in years she carried a gun, learned 
to shoot, and when yet a young woman was equal if not superior to 
any of the men in hunting both on horseback and on foot. 

During her whole life no change took place in her dress, being clad 
like the rest of the females with the exception of hunting arms and 
accoutrements. It also happened that she was taller and stronger 
than most women—her pursuits no doubt tending to develop strength 
of nerve and muscle. Long before she had ventured on the warpath 
she could rival any of the young men in all their amusements and 
occupations, was a capital shot with the rifle, and would spend most 
of her time in killing deer and bighorn, which she butchered and carried 
home on her back when hunting on foot. At other times she joined 
in the surround on horse, could kill four or five buffalo at a race, cut 
up the animals without assistance, and bring the meat and hides 
home. 

Although tolerably good looking she did not, it seems, strike the 
fancy of the young men, and her protector having been killed in 
battle, she assumed the charge of his lodge and family, performing 
the double duty of father and mother to his children. 

In the course of time it happened that the Blackfeet made a charge 
on a few lodges of Crows encamped near the trading fort in their 
country—our heroine being with the lodges. The attack was sudden. 
Several men were killed and the rest took refuge within the fort saving 
most of their horses. The enemies made a stand beyond the reach 
of guns and by signs exhibited a desire to speak to someone in the fort. 
Neither Whites nor Crows could be found to venture out. But this 
woman, understanding their language, saddled her horse and set 
forth to meet them. Everyone sought to detain her, but she would 
not be persuaded. The fort gates were opened and she went on her 
dangerous errand. When arrived within hailing distance, and about 
half rifle shot, several Blackfeet came to meet her, rejoicing in the 
occasion of securing an easy prize. When within pistol shot, she 
called on them to stop, but they paid no attention to her words. One 
of the enemies then fired at her and the rest charged. She immedi- 


66 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Buty. 151 


ately shot down one with her gun, and shot arrows into two more 
without receiving a wound. The remaining two then rode back to the 
main body, who came at full speed to murder the woman. They 
fired showers of balls and pursued her as near to the fort as they 
could with safety approach. But she escaped unharmed and entered 
the gates amid the shouts and praises of the Whites and her own 
people. 

This daring act stamped her character as a brave. It was sung by 
the rest of the camp, and in time was made known to the whole nation. 
About a year after, she collected a number of young men and headed 
her first war excursion against the Blackfeet. Fortune again favored 
her. She approached their camp in the night, stole 70 horses and 
drove them with great speed toward her home. But the enemies 
followed, overtook them, and a sharp skirmish ensued, which resulted 
in the Crows getting off with most of the animals and two Blackfeet 
scalps. One of the two Blackfeet the woman chieftain killed and 
scalped with her own hand. The other, although shot down by one 
of her followers, she was the first to strike and taken from him his 
gun while he was yet alive ’tho severely wounded. It may reasonably 
be supposed that coups such as these aided to raise her fame as a 
warrior, and according to their own usages, from the fact of striking 
first the bodies of two enemies, she could no more be prevented from 
having a voice in their deliberations. Other expeditions of a still 
more hazardous nature were undertaken and successfully carried 
through by this singular and resolute woman. In every battle around 
their own camp or those of their enemies some gallant act distinguished 
her. Old men began to believe she bore a charmed life which, with 
her daring feats, elevated her to a point of honor and respect not 
often reached by male warriors, certainly never before conferred upon 
a female of the Crow Nation. The Indians seemed to be proud of 
her, sung forth her praise in songs composed by them after each of her 
brave deeds. When council was held and all the chiefs and warriors 
assembled, she took her place among the former, ranking third person 
in the band of 160 lodges. On stated occasions, when the ceremony 
of striking a post and publicly repeating daring acts was performed, 
she took precedence of many a brave man whose career had not been 
so fortunate. 

In the meantime she continued her masculine course of life, hunting 
and war. Heretofore her attention had been but little attracted to 
personal gain in the way of barter. Whatever hides she brought 
home from the hunt were given to her friends, ‘tho the meat was 
cured and dried by herself and the children under her charge. When 
horses were wanting she drew upon her enemies for a supply and had 
been heretofore uniformly successful. She had numbers of animals 


oc OF THE CROW NATION—DENIG 67 


in her possession, with which she could at any time command other 
necessaries. 

But with Indians it is the same as with civilized persons. The 
richer they become the more desirous they are of acquiring more. 
As yet no offer of marriage had been made her by anyone. Her 
habits did not suit their taste. Perhaps they thought she would be 
rather difficult to manage as a wife. Whatever the reason was, they 
certainly rather feared than loved her as a conjugal companion, and 
she continued to lead a single life. With the view of turning her hides 
to some account by dressing them and fitting them for trading pur- 
poses, she took to herself a wife. Ranking as a warrior and hunter, 
she could not be brought to think of female work. It was derogatory 
to her standing, unsuited to her taste. She therefore went through 
the usual formula of Indian marriage to obtain an authority over the 
woman thus bought. Strange country this, where males assume the 
dress and perform the duties of females, while women turn men and 
mate with their own sex! 

Finding that employing hands advanced her affairs in the lodge, in 
a few years her establishment was further increased by taking three 
more wives. This plurality of women added also to her standing and 
dignity as a chief; for after success at war, riches either in horses or 
women mark the distinction of rank with all the Prairie tribes. 
Nothing more was now in her power to gain. She had fame, standing, 
honor, riches, and as much influence over the band as anyone except 
two or three leading chiefs. To either of their offices she could in no 
wise expect to succeed; for to be a leader requires having strong family 
connection, extensive kindredship, and a popularity of a different 
description from that allotted to partizans. This being the case, she 
wisely concluded to maintain her present great name instead of inter- 
fering with the claims of others to public notice. For 20 years she 
conducted herself well in all things appertaining to war and a hunter’s 
life. 

In the summer of 1854 she determined to visit in a friendly way the 
Gros Ventres of the Prairie to which nation, it has been observed, she 
owed her parentage. The treaty with the Upper Missouri tribes held 
at Laramie in 1851 had been followed up by overtures of peace to the 
Blackfeet and the Gros Ventres of the Prairie. The entire body of the 
latter, with a portion of the former, evinced a willingness to abstain 
from war excursions, and sent friendly messages to the Crows and 
Assiniboines containing invitations to visit them. The Assiniboines 
did so, were well received, hospitably entertained by the Gros Ventres, 
and dismissed with horses as presents. This intercourse was kept up 
for 3 or 4 years, with entire satisfaction to both parties, although the 
Crows had not as yet presented themselves at the camps of their 


68 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLy. 151 


former enemies. With the view of ascertaining how far their hostile 
spirit had been quelled, and perhaps of gaining a goodly number of 
horses, this Woman Chief undertook a visit there, presuming that, 
as she was in fact one of their nation, could speak their language, and 
a general peace was desired, she could associate with them without 
being harmed. Many old and experienced fur traders endeavored to 
dissuade her from this journey, as her feats against them were too 
notorious to be easily overlooked. But contrary to the advice of her 
friends she proceeded. 

When near the camp, however, she encountered a large party of the 
Gros Ventres of the Prairie who had been to Fort Union and were re- 
turning home. These she boldly met, spoke to, and smoked with. 
But on their discovering who she was, they took the advantage while 
traveling with her to their camp to shoot her down together with the 
four Crows who had so far borne her company. 

This closed the earthly career of this smgular woman and effectually 
placed a bar to any hopes of peace between the Crows and her murder- 
ers. Neither has there since appeared another of her sex who preferred 
the warrior’s life to that of domestic duties.” 


DANGERS ENCOUNTERED IN THE FUR TRADE WITH THE CROWS 


Before closing our remarks on this people, something regarding 
the trade with them might not be amiss, for the fort built in their 
country has been the theater of more war and bloodshed both of 
Whites and Indians than any other spot occupied by the fur traders. 
From the year before named until 1855, forts have been built in dif- 
ferent places along the Yellowstone at distances varying from 150 to 
300 miles from its conflux. The mouths of the Tongue River, Rose 
Bud River, Powder River, Big Horn, O’Fallon’s Creek, and the Little 
Horn have all at times been occupied by trading posts, to which annual 
supplies were sent up in a mackinaw boat towed with a cordelle by 
15 to 20 men, some of whom remained to bring down the peltries the 
ensuing spring, the others returned to the starting point, Fort Union, 


42 Kurz met “the famous Absaroka amazon” at Fort Union, October 27, 1851. He said she “looked neither 
savage nor warlike. . . . She is about 45 years old; appears modest in manner and good natured rather than 
quick to quarrel.” She gave Denig a Blackfoot scalp, which she had taken herself, which Denig presented to 
Kurz for his collection (Kurz, 1937, pp. 213-214), In hisreport to Governor Stevens, Denig included a briefer 
account of this woman’s career (Denig, 1930, pp. 433-434). In that source he mentioned an Assiniboin 
woman had attempted to imitate the Crow woman warrior, only to be killed on her first war excursion. 
J. Willard Schultz has written a fictionalized biography of Running Eagle, the noted Piegan woman warrior 
(Schultz, 1919). Running Eagle, who was killed by the Flathead following a series of successful war exploits, 
was remembered by elderly men on the Blackfeet Reservation, Mont., in the early 1940’s. Presumably her 
war career was initiated after Denig’s description of the Crow woman was written. However, she may haye 
been inspired by the example of the Crow’s Woman Chief. 


SRTEROE EAP OF THE CROW NATION—DENIG 69 


at the mouth of the Yellowstone. This river is very difficult to navi- 
gate at any season. During the summer flood the banks fallin. The 
current is very swift and the whole surface of the river is covered with 
floating trees and driftwood. After this stage the river falls too low 
and the danger then is confined to the sandbars, snags, and ledges of 
rock reaching nearly across the stream. Through these rocks the 
water runs with such velocity as not to admit of a loaded boat being 
hauled through. It is unloaded and the merchandise transported on 
men’s shoulders by land to where the river is less turbulent. These 
rapids occupy nearly 100 miles in length. For the greater part of this 
distance the goods are carried by the men and the empty boats dragged 
up the stream. The downward navigation is more dangerous still. 
On these rapids the boats are often broken and both men and cargoes 
lost. The banks of the Yellowstone, moreover, are infested by hordes 
of Blackfeet Indians or Sioux, both hostile to either Whites or natives. 
The well-timbered bottoms of the river and deep-cut coulees in the 
hils afford excellent lurking places for marauding parties ready to 
kill or rob whenever opportunity offers. 

But all these difficulties are of a trifling nature when compared to 
the situation of the traders around their own fort. Scarcely a week 
passes but attacks are made on those whose work obliges them to go 
beyond the gates of the stockade. The Sioux on the one hand, and 
the Blackfeet on the other, constantly in search of the Crow Indians 
who are supposed to be near the fort, make this place the center of 
their operations. When the Crows are stationed in the vicinity all 
attacks fall upon them, and well they retaliate. But when there are 
no Indians those who cut wood, guard horses, or go in quest of meat 
by hunting feel the murderous strokes of these ruthless warriors. 
Each and every year from 5 to 15 persons attached to the trading 
establishment have been killed, since commerce has been carried on 
with the Crows in their own district. The Blackfeet view the fort 
for the Crows in the light Rotten Belly did that for them. It sup- 
plies their enemies with arms and munitions of war, besides other 
conveniences for hunting and existing as a nation. Also the Black- 
feet never entirely forgot the attempt of the Crow chieftain to cut off 
their support by besieging their fort in the hopes of being able to 
pillage it. They have always been a fierce people, killing the trappers 
in the mountains, in which encounters they suffered loss which they 
revenge to this day on any and all white persons not connected with 


43 For the Crow trade the American Fur Co. and its successors built four trading posts on the Middle 
Yellowstone in less than a quarter century. Each in turn was abandoned after a few years’ service. There 
were Fort Cass (1832-38), Fort Van Buren (1839-42), Fort Alexander (1842-50), and Fort Sarpy (1850-55) 
(Chittenden, 1902, vol. 2, pp. 964-965; Larpenteur, 1898; vol. 1, pp. 115, 170-175; McDonnell, 1940, pp. 
282-283). 


70 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLL. 151 


the trading establishment in their own region. Sometimes these, too, 
go before their savage dispositions. 

The Crows never passed the summer in the vicinity of the fort. At 
that season they were with the Flatheads, Snakes, or Nez Percés 
bartering the merchandise obtained from the traders for horses, orna- 
ments, etc., with those nations. Late in the autumn some of them 
encamped near the fort but the greater portion kept in the fastnesses 
of the mountains, hunting in the valleys and bringing their proceeds 
to the trading post the following spring. About 6 months in the year 
the fort was left to defend itself the best way it could with its small 
number of men. These were further reduced when the mackinaw 
boats left with the annual returns. At these times those who re- 
mained could not with safety venture to the bank of the river to get 
water within a few steps of the gate. Indeed some were shot stand- 
ing within the entrance. Whoever went forth to procure wood or 
meat placed their lives in extreme jeopardy. Every hunter there has 
been killed, and the fort often reduced to a famished condition when 
buffalo were in great numbers within sight. The few horses kept 
for hunting were always stolen, and those who guarded them shot 
down. 

The Blackfeet never do these things openly; concealed among the 
bushes, grass, or in gullies they lie in wait for those who go out. The 
fort people seldom if ever killed any enemies. As soon as a man or 
two were shot the Indians absconded. At the time of attacking they 
were hidden from view or too numerous to be engaged by the few 
who were the victims to their bloodthirsty natures. 

After keeping up the war in this way for about 16 years neither the 
Crow Indians nor traders could be brought to station themselves 
there for any length of time and the Yellowstone has been abandoned 
by both.** Men could, however, be found to continue operations in 
the Crow district did the trade prove of sufficient profit to the ad- 
venture. But two-thirds of the Indians have of late years taken their 
robes to the traders on the Platte for disposal. In some instances a 
few persons have come into their country with merchandise for their 
trade, which they brought in wagons along the Platte road as far as 

44 ndian Agent Vauchan, on his visit to the Crow country in August 1854, reported, “‘Scarcely a day passes 
but the Crow country is infested with more or less parties of Blackfeet, who murder indiscriminately any 
one that comes within their reach. At Fort Sarpy so great is the danger that no one ventures even a few 
yards from his own door without company and being well armed” (Ann. Rep. Comm. Ind. Aff., 1854, 
p. 85). By spring of 1855, hostile pressure had become so great that the traders burned Fort Sarpy (May 
19) and abandoned the Crow country (McDonnell, 1940, pp. 126-127). Thus, at the time of Denig’s writing, 
his company had no post among the Crow. Vaughan was prevented from reaching the Crow in the sum- 
mer of 1855 by bodies of hostile Sioux on the Lower Yellowstone. -When he reestablished contact with the 
Crow in the summer of 1856, that tribe had not received Government annuities for 2 years. Their chiefs 
explained to him “‘they preferred to go without the goods, rather than run the risk of passing through a 
country beset by their deadliest enemies, the Blackfeet and Blood Indians of the north.”” Vaughan persuaded 


350 Crows to go with him to Fort Union to obtain the annuity goods for the entire tribe (Ann. Rep. Comm. 
Ind. Aff., 1856, p. 81). 


Oe OF THE CROW NATION—DENIG 71 
Laramie’s Fork, thence turning off and passing the winter near Powder 
River Mountain. There they build houses, deal with the Crows, and 
take their returns of furs and skins to St. Louis by the same road they 
came. As the country now stands, it is destitute of traders. Some 
camps come to Fort Union for supplies, others go to the Platte posts, 
and many rove through the mountains, supply themselves with what 
they want either by barter with other tribes or by robbing any emi- 
grants on their road to the far west. 

The trade with the Crows never was very profitable. They buy 
only the very finest and highest-priced goods which are most desired 
for the horse trade. Their own clothing also, of European manu- 
facture, consists chiefly of blankets, cloths, etc., which, with English 
guns and brass kettles, do not bear a large advance of price when 
sold to them. Add to this their interminable practice of begging 
and stealing, and the expense and risk in taking goods up the Yellow- 
stone and peltries down, and but little remains to compensate the 
trader for his time and trouble. 


FUTURE PROSPECTS OF THE CROW INDIANS 


Situated as they now are. the Crows cannot exist long as a nation. 
Without adequate supplies of arms and ammunition, warred against 
by the Blackfeet on one side and most bands of the Sioux on the other, 
straving along the Platte trail where they contract rapid and deadly 
diseases, together with the unnatural customs of destroying their 
offspring, will soon lead to their entire extinction. Or if a few remain 
they will become robbers and freebooters on any and all persons 
passing through the solitary regions of the Rocky Mountains.“ 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


ABEL, ANNIE HELoIsE. See CHARDON, Francis A.; TRUDEAU, JEAN BAPTISTE, 
1921. 
AUDUBON, JOHN JAMES. 
1897. Audubon and his journals. 2 vols. Edited by Maria R. Audubon 
and Elliott Coues. New York. 
AupuBon, Maria R. See AuDUBON, JOHN JAMES. 


4> At the time of Denig’s writing the chances for the survival of the Crow Indians seemed sJim, attacked 
on two sides as they were by the two strongest military powers of the Northern Plains, the Blackfoot and 
Teton Dakota. Yet Catlin had voiced a similar concern for the fate of the Crow in 1832: ‘“‘They are a 
much smaller tribe than the Blackfeet, with whom they are always at war, and from whose great numbers 
they suffer prodigiously in battle; and probably will be,ina few years. entirely destroyed by them” (Catlin, 
1841, vol. 1, pp. 42-43). Some of our aged Piegan and Blood informants, during the early 1940’s, volunteered 
the opinion that had the U. S. Government not put an end to intertribal warfare, the Blackfoot and Sioux 
would have exterminated the Crow Indians. 


909871—53—_6 


72 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL 151 


BEAUREGARD, Mrs. H. T. See TRupEAv, JEAN Baptiste, 1912. 
Bravb ey, Lt. James H. 
1896-1923. The Bradley Manuscript. Montana Hist. Soc. Contr., vols. 
2,3, and 9. Helena. 
CaTLIN, GEORGE. 

1841. Letters and notes on the manners, customs, and condition of the North 

American Indians. 2 vols. London. 
Cuarpon, Francis A. 
1932. Chardon’s journal at Fort Clark, 1834-89. Edited by Annie Heloise 
Abel. Pierre, 8. Dak. 
CHITTENDEN, Hiram M. 
1902. The American fur trade of the Far West. 2 vols. New York. 
CHITTENDEN, H. M., and Ricuarpson, A. T., Epirors. 

1905. Life, letters, and travels of Father Pierre Jean De Smet. 4 vols. 

New York. 
CoMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. 

1853-58. Annual Reports. 

Covss, Extiot. See AupuBoN, JoHN JAMES; HENRY, ALEXANDER, and THOMpP- 
SON, Davin; LARPENTEUR, CHARLES. 
CULBERTSON, THADDEUS A. 

1851. Journal of an expedition to the Mauvaises. Terres and the Upper 
Missouri in 1850. Ann. Rep. Board of Regents Smithsonian Inst. 
for 1850. (For new edition of the Culbertson Journal, edited by 
J. F. McDermott, see Bur. Amer. Ethnol. Bull. 147, 1952.) 

Curtis, Epwarp §. 
1909. The North American Indian, vol. 4. New York. 
DenicG, Epwin T. 

1930. Indian tribes of the Upper Missouri. Edited by J. N. B. Hewitt. 
46th Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Ethnol., 1928-29, pp. 345-628. 

1950. Of the Arikaras. Edited by John C. Ewers. Bull. Missouri Hist. 
Soc., vol. 6, No. 2. St. Louis. 

1951. Of the Sioux. Edited by John C. Ewers. Bull. Missouri Hist. Soc., 
vol. 7, No. 2. St. Louis. 

1952. Of the Assiniboines. Edited by John C. Ewers. Bull. Missouri Hist. 
£oc., vol. 8, No. 2. St. Louis. 

De Smet, Pierre JEAN. 

1863. Western missions and missionaries: A series of letters by Rev. P. J. De 

Smet. New York. 
Ewers, Joun C. 

1946. Identification and history of the Small Robes band of the Piegan 

Indians. Journ. Washington Acad. Sci., vol. 36, No. 12. 
See also Denig, Edwin T., 1950, 1951, and 1952. 
Haypen, F. V. 

1862. On the ethnography and philology of the Indian tribes of the Upper 

Missouri. Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc., vol. 12, pt. 2. 
Henry, ALEXANDER, and THompson, Davip. 

1897. New light on the early history of the greater Northwest. 3 vols. 
Edited by Elliott Coues. New York. 

Hewirt, J. N. B. See Denia, Epwin T., 1930; Kurz, Rupoupn F. 
IRVING, WASHINGTON. 
1851. The adventures of Captain Bonneville, U.S. A. New York. 


EE an oaayae- OF THE CROW NATION—DENIG 73 


Kurz, Rupourxe F. 
1937. Journal of Rudolph Friederich Kurz. Edited by J. N. B. Hewitt. 
Bur. Amer. Ethnol. Bull. 115. 
LarocqaueE, Francois. 
1910. Journal of Larocque from the Assiniboine to the Yellowstone, 1805. 
Publ. Canadian Archives, No. 3. Ottawa. 
LARPENTEUR, CHARLES. 
1898. Forty vears a fur trader on the Upper Missouri. Edited by Elliott 
Coues. 2 vols. New York. 
LEONARD, ZENAS. 
1904. Adventures of Zenas Leonard, fur trader and trapper, 1831-1836. 
Edited by W. F. Wagner. Cleveland. 
Lewis, MrRIWETHER, and CLARK, Wo. 
1904-1905. Original journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. 8 vols. 
Edited by Reuben Gold Thwaites. New York. 
Lowis, Ropert H. 
1912. Social life of the Crow Indians. Anthrop. Pap. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., 
vol. 9, pt. 2. New York. 
1917. Notes on the social organization and customs of the Mandan, Hidatsa, 
and Crow Indians. Anthrop. Pap. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 21, 
pt. 1. New York. 
1919. The Tobacco Society of the Crow Indians. Anthrop. Pap. Amer. Mus. 
Nat. Hist., vol. 25, pt. 2. New York. 
1922. The material culture of the Crow Indians. Anthrop. Pap. Amer. Mus. 
Nat. Hist., vol. 21, pt. 3. New York. 
1935. The Crow Indians. New York. 
MatHEws, WASHINGTON. 
1877. Ethnography and philology of the Hidatsa Indians. U.S. Geol. and 
Geogr. Surv., Mise. Publ. No. 7. 
MaxIMILIAN, ALEXANDER PHILLIP. 
1906. Travels in the interior of North America. Jn Early Western Travels, 
vols. 22-24. Edited by Reuben Gold Thwaites. Cleveland. 
McDermott, J. F. See Cutrnertson, THADDEUs A. 
McDonneE.ie, ANNE, EpiTor. 
1940. The Fort Sarpy Journal, 1855-56. Montana Hist. Soc. Contr., vol. 10. 
Helena. 
Moutuoy, WILiiaM. 
1942. The Hagen site, a prehistoric village on the Lower Yellowstone. 
Univ. Montana Publ. Soc. Sci., No. 1. Missoula. 
ScHootcrart, Henry R. 
1851-57. Historical and statistical information respecting the history, 
condition and prospects of the Indian tribes of the United States, 
Parts 1-6. Philadelphia. 
Scuuttz, J. WILLARD. 
1919. Running Eagle, the warrior girl. Boston. 
Simms, S. C. 
1903. Crow Indian hermaphrodites. Amer. Anthrop., n. s., vol. 5, pp. 
580-581. Lancaster, Pa. 
1904. Cultivation of the ‘‘Medicine Tobacco” by the Crows. Amer. Anthrop., 
n. s., vol. 6, pp. 331-335. Lancaster, Pa. 
TuwaitTes, Reusen Goup. See Lewis, MrrtweTHerR, and CuiarKk, WM.; 
MAXIMILIAN, ALEXANDER PHILLIP. 


74 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLL. 151 


TRUDEAU, JEAN BaPTISTE. 
1912. Journal of Jean Baptiste Trudeau among the Arikara Indians in 1795. 
Edited by Mrs. H. T. Beauregard. Missouri Hist. Soc. Coll., vol. 4. 
St. Louis. 
Edited by Annie 


1921. Trudeau’s description of the Upper Missouri. 
Heloise Abel. Mississippi Valley Hist. Rev., vol. 8, Nos. 1-2. 


Vickers, Curis. 
1948. Denig of Fort Union. North Dakota Hist., vol. 15, No.2. Bismarck. 


Waaner, W.F. See Leonarp, ZENS. 


BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 151 PLATE 


PORTRAIT OF EDWIN THOMPSON DENIG. 


PLATE 2 


BULLETIN 151 


BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 


' (zy “A Aq yoI94¥S) - | 
“2681 ‘NOINM LYOH AO M3AIA YOIWSLXA 


BUREAU*OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 151 PLATE 3 


TWo CROWS THE YOUNGER, A CROW INDIAN, 
(Painted by George Catlin at Fort Union, 1832.) 


BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 151 PLATE 4 


“THE WOMAN WHO LIVES IN THE BEAR’S DEN, HER HAIR CUT OFF, 
BEING IN MOURNING.”’ 


(A Crow woman painted by George Catlin at Fort Union, 1832.) 


SHE 


— 


(806r ‘daeyg “H “¢ Aq Suryureg) 
‘YSAIN NYOH SIG SILLIT ‘LNAWdWVYONZ NVIGN[| MOYUD 


PLATE 5 


BULLETIN 151 


> ye 


BUREAU OF AMERICANCETHNOLOGY 


BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 151 PLATE 6 


4 


Be Scans 


THE VOICE OF THE GREAT SPIRIT. A SCAFFOLD. BURIAL ON THE 
CROW RESERVATION. 


(Painting by J. H. Sharp, 1900.) 


SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 
Bureau of American Ethnology 
Bulletin 151 


Anthropological Papers, No. 34 
The Water Lily in Maya Art: A Complex of Alleged 
Asiatic Origin 


By ROBERT L. RANDS 


75 


Introduction 
Floral forms in Maya art 
General considerations 
Water-lily leaf 
Flower types 
Flower elements 
Stem and root 


General considerations 


Head or forehead 


Over-all type 
Mythic associations 


Summary and conclusions 
Notes on the tables 
Sources of entries (table 1) 
Sources of illustrations 
Literature cited 


1. a, Amaravati, India. b, c, Palenque (Entries 78, 77). 


(Entries 25, 26) 
2. a, Quirigua (Entry 104). 


d, e, Chichen Itza (Entries 22, 28). 


CONTENTS 


ILLUSTRATIONS 
FIGURES 


es 


Mythic associations of probable water lilies 


Hands or arms; figures amidst plant 


Miscellaneous associations 
Glyphic associations of probable water lilies 
Areal and chronological trends 


Resemblances to the lotus in Indian art 


d, Chichen Itza 


b, Copan (Entry 50). c, Chama (Entry 204). 


3. a, Santa Rita (Entry 121). 6, c, Tulum (Entries 129, 131). 


(Entry 221). e, Chichen Itza (Entry 23). 
g, Palenque (Entry 76). 


(Entry 124) 
4. a, b, Palenque (Entries 


69, 91). c, Copan (Entry 44). 


f, Yaxchilan (Entry 152)__.-_-- 


d, Yucatan 


f, Quirigua (Entry 118). 
h, Dresden Codex (Entry 301). 1%, Tikal 


d, Yucatan 


(Entries 219, 220). “e, Chichen"Itza (Monjas). f, Rio Hondo (Entry 


214). g, Kaminaljuyu (Entry 211) 


5. a, 7, Chichen Itza (Entries 35, 29). 6b, Rio Hondo (Entry 


Palenque (Entries 71, 
(Entry 208). f, g, Chama (Entries 203, 201) 


73). d, Quirigua (Entry 117). 


—---- ee Hee ee 


SAD). cbs iy 
e, Chajcar 


6. a, Quirigua (Entry 111). 6, Copan (Entry 53). c, Dresden Codex 


(Entry 310). d, La Amelia (Entry 68). 


Palenque (Entry 70). 


g, h, Chichen Itza (Entries 27, 24) 


e, Vase (Entry 222). f, 


85 


86 


87 


88 


89 


90 


THE WATER LILY IN MAYA ART: A COMPLEX OF 
ALLEGED ASIATIC ORIGIN! 


By Rosert L. Ranps 


—_ 


INTRODUCTION 


Prominent among the art forms presented by Heine-Geldern and 
Ekholm in their highly suggestive paper on pre-Columbian trans- 
Pacific contacts are the lotus motif of Southeast Asia and the water 
lily of the Maya.? A number of specific resemblances in the depiction 
of the plants are cited. Broad temporal generalizations are made 
about the occurrence of the plants in the art of the two areas. The 
transmission of the lotus motif to Middle America is held to have 
taken place between A. D. 100 and 600, at the latest by the middle 
of the Classic Period, at which time it is known to occur in Maya 
art. Contacts are said to have been either intensified or renewed at 
the close of the Classic and the beginning of the Mexican Periods. 
It is only on this late time level, in Mexican Period art at the site of 
Chichen Itza, that the authors cite resemblances to the lotus in 
Asiatic art. The Hindu-Buddhist depictions of the lotus to which 
comparisons are made are likewise largely confined to a single site, 
Amaravati. Although this southeastern Indian site dates from the 
second century A. D., the existence of similar art forms on perishable 
wooden objects is postulated for a later period in the Malay Peninsula, 
Indo-China, and Indonesia. 

It is not the primary purpose of the present study to continue this 
comparative approach. Even comparisons with floral designs else- 
where in Middle America will not be attempted, and any telling 
evaluation of the complex matter of possible Asiatic affiliations must 

1The writer wishes to express his appreciation to Miss Tatiana Proskouriakoff, the Division of 
Archacology of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, and Dr. Gordon F. Ekholm, American Museum 
of Natural History, for their advice and suggestions. Most of the illustrations and much work on the 
tables were done by the writer’s wife, Barbara C. Rands. 

2 Heino-Geldern, R., and Ekholm, G. F., 1951. These writers, although giving special emphasis to the 
water lily, discuss some fifteen to twenty additional traits common to Middle America and Southeastern 


Asia. Their paper. read at the 29th International Congress of Amcricanists, was supplemented by a special 
exhibit, ‘Across the Pacific,’”’ at the American Museum of Natural History. (Cf. Ekholm, 1950.) 


79 


80 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLy. 151 


obviously be made against such a background. Also to be considered 
in a truly exhaustive investigation, but not touched on here, are the 
occurrences of similar floral motifs in portions of the Old World 
other than Southeast Asia (cf. Hamlin, 1916-23). Only Maya repre- 
sentations of the water lily will be analyzed in detail, in part with a 
view toward a better understanding of intersite relationships in the 
realm of religious design. Distributional and stylistic occurrences of 
water-lily-like plants will be noted, as well as the symbolic associa- 
tions which characterize these art forms. It is apparent, however, 
that the material has a direct bearing on the problems raised by Heine- 
Geldern and Ekholm. This is especially true inasmuch as several of 
the highly arbitrary associations taken on by the water lily in Maya 
art are also present in Hindu-Buddhist representations of the lotus. 


FLORAL FORMS IN MAYA ART 
GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS 


To understand the place of the water lily in Maya art, it is first 
necessary to find criteria for identifying the plant. This has been 
done, in part, by previous workers. Maudslay (1889-1902, vol. 4, 
pp. 37-38), and after him such writers as Spinden (1913, pp. 18-20) 
and Lothrop (1926, pp. 159-162), have gathered examples of what has 
been termed the ‘‘fish and water-plant motif’”’—a flower at which 
fish is apparently nibbling. A few designs, patently similar but lack- 
ing the fish, have been tacitly considered to be water plants (Mauds- 
lay, 1889-1902, vol. 4, pl. 93-9, h,m; Spinden, 1913, figs. 2a-c, 4). 
Two or three atypical designs, to which, however, the mouth of the 
fish is placed, have been included in the group (Spinden, 1913, fig. 3d, 
e, f). Maudslay, while granting the resemblance of the group to the 
water lily, prefers the more noncommittal designation of ‘ water- 
plant’? (1889-1902, vol. 4, p. 37). Spinden speaks on several occa- 
sions of water-lily-like plants or of apparent water lilies. In his words, 
““Hixamples of the fish and water-plant design present much stronger 
proof of culture affinity among the cities where they occur than do the 
simple water-plant forms, for designs analogous to the latter are 
universal, whereas the association of fish and flower is very unusual” 
(Spinden, 1913, p. 18). 

Whether or not these “analogous” designs represent the water 
plant is a problem of no easy solution. Resemblances to the flower 

3 A few words of exception must be made in the case of the frescoes of Tepantitla at Teotihuacan. Here, in 
repeated, standardized motifs, water-lily-like flowers and leaves emerge from the mouth of the rain god, 
Tlaloc. In this respect, as in others, the Tepantitla designs compare not only with Maya representations 
of the water lily but with Indian examples, as well. Correspondences of Teotihuacan floral art with that of 
the Maya are reenforced by a stela carving from the site of Copan, which shows a tripartite design, sugges- 
tively similar to the Tepantitla flower-and-leaf motif, placed identically at the mouth of a Tlaloc head (see 


Entry 49a of table 1). In view of such close relationships within Mesoamerica, the arbitrary scope of the 
present study, and the impossibility of basing definite conclusions on it, are apparent. 


on WATER LILY IN MAYA ART—RANDS 81 


of Nymphaea amopla, the large, showy, white water lily of the Maya, 
exist to varying degrees in a large number of designs. It is possible, 
as Maudslay indicates, that the water lily is the only flower depicted 
in Maya art (Maudslay, 1889-1902, vol. 4,p. 37). Nevertheless, the 
characteristics actually shared by flowers of various kinds may have 
led to a little-differentiated treatment of these flowers. Either the 
portrayal of a generalized flower, without any intention in the mind 
of the artist as to the type, or the portrayal of specific types which 
were so modified by artistic canons that their diagnostic features were 
lacking, might have been the rule. 

The identification of art forms as flowers tends, except for highly 
conventionalized designs, to be a fairly simple task. Not only is the 
over-all impression frequently well conveyed, but a number of design 
elements appear to represent conventionalizations of parts of the 
flower. For the most part these standardizations correspond well to 
the anatomical parts of the water lily, although certain of them might 
apply equally to other types of flowers. ‘Thus, lines at the flower’s 
top seemingly depict petals, two or three bands enclosing the central 
portion of the flower are probable sepals, and stamens—hidden by the 
petals if viewed from the side—may well be indicated by lines or dots. 
A more extended discussion of this type of evidence is given below in a 
classification of floral forms in Maya art. Occasionally, however, 
rounded tufts of feathers or down may be confused with the petals of 
a flower. Ends of the long bones may also be conventionalized in 
such a way as to approach certain stylizations of the flower. These 
deviant occurrences are rare, however, and as a preliminary approach 
to the problem of the water lily it is possible to isolate a large num- 
ber of floral forms. This has been done in table 1. 

For the most part, these flowers segregate into standardized types. 
These categories are based on combinations of the over-all shape with 
certain elements of the sort just cited. Additional elements tend to 
unite the group. ‘Two or three of the types appear as the food of fish 
in the fish and water-plant motif. Their occurrence in other situ- 
ations suggests that the same plant is intended. Occasionally more 
than one category of flower appears on a single stalk or creeper. This 
would seem to imply that more than one way of depicting a single kind 
of flower existed, but it may mean instead that various sorts of flowers, 
water lilies and nonwater lilies, were grouped together into a composite 
entity. A corollary of this would be that different artistic types 
represent different kinds of flowers. Yet again, many of these dif- 
ferences may indicate different stages in the unfolding of the flower, or 
different portions of the plant may sometimes be shown. 

Apparently more diagnostic than the flower, the water-lily leaf is 
characteristically treated in Maya art. The notched, unevenly 


82 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Burn. 151 


surfaced leaf of Nymphaea ampla seems to be recaptured in a cross- 
hachured design that sometimes accompanies flowers and stalks. 
It occurs in connection with the fish and water-plant motif, with 
flowers of the type that appears in the fish and water-plant motif, 
and with flowers of different types. It offers strong support to the 
feeling that there is at least an ingredient of the water lily in a great 
many floral designs in Maya art. 

Striking features recur in the stalks of plants that are present with 
the fish and water-plant motif, the probable water-lily leaf, and flow- 
ers of the types that commonly appear in the fish and water-plant 
motif. The stalk takes on a scrolled, often vinelike or creeperlike 
quality. Panels and panel variations occur. The same character- 
istics appear again in connection with additional categories of flowers, 
suggesting that the same plant is portrayed. If these plants actually 
are not the same, surely they have imbibed strongly of the same artis- 
tic tradition! 

The presence of stems or vines worked into a scrolled or undulating 
panel is especially important insofar as the present study bears on the 
problem of trans-Pacific contacts. For, as pointed out by Heine- 
Geldern and Ekholm, the same unnatural treatment is prominent 
in Hindu-Buddhist depictions of the lotus. Therefore, if nonwater 
lily plants are given this treatment in Maya art, they may provide 
a prototype or artistically related form and cannot be ignored. Stalks 
of this sort, without accompanying flowers or leaves, are accordingly 
included in table 1. 

It is apparent, then, that while there may be no clear-cut answer to 
the question of the identification of the water lily, many art forms 
share features which suggest that they are possible water lilies. These 
linking features are not merely artistic but consist of the symbolic 
situations in which the plants occur—the mythic beings they contact 
and the anatomical portions of the beings from which they emerge. 
This being the case, the study of the water lily must be extended to 
include plant forms which share this complex. Conceivably, if the 
complex is shared by plants other than the water lily, it could have 
originated with the water lily or with some other plant and spread to 
flowering plants in general, or it could have grown up around undif- 
ferentiated plant life. It is the writer’s belief, however, that water- 
lily plants form the central core of the complex, perhaps, in some cases, 
in conjunction with the maize plant. Whether or not this is true may 
be of importance so far as the details of Maya religious symbolism are 
concerned but would not appear to bear too importantly on the prob- 
lem of intersite connections. Nor is it of fundamental importance to 
the problem of connections with the lotus in Indian art. The case for 
such connections is based largely upon the similarities in art form and 


Brae Fae. WATER LILY IN MAYA ART—RANDS 83 


the highly arbitrary nature of the plant’s associations. The artistic 
resemblances are just as great and the associations as arbitrary 
whether the water lily or some other plant happens to be depicted in 
a given instance. 

Based on these considerations, floral and stem forms that occur in 
Maya sculptures and murals have been gathered together without 
implication that the water lily is necessarily depicted (table 1). The 
compilation of these representations cannot claim to be exhaustive, 
but, subject to the occasional error of misclassification that is inherent 
in working with a complex art form and with sometimes badly eroded 
and poorly illustrated material, it probably begins to approach that 
goal. Compilation of floral forms in the glyphs is incomplete. Un- 
published material is not included. Likewise omitted are certain 
forms lacking any of the associations characteristic of the “water lily” 
complex. Especially to be noted in this connection is the wealth of 
floral designs at Chichen Itza, particularly at the Temple of the 
Xtoloc Cenote (Proskouriakoff, 1950, fig. 108c). A middle course 
has been followed in the tabulation of stylized or flamboyantly treated 
designs which have definite floral attributes. Some leeway is given, 
although the more conventionalized ones have been passed by. Un- 
tabulated, too, are certain treelike forms and probable maize plants 
which share an important characteristic of the complex, viz, growth 
from the head of a mythic being. 

Comparative material from ceramic and codex art is also tabulated. 
These data are not to be considered as necessarily representative, how- 
ever, for only floral or stem forms having artistic or associational 
features of special interest are included. The figure painted vases are 
especially rich in untabulated floral designs. Thus, a vessel for which 
only 1 flower is tabulated also displays 16 additional flowers worn in 
the headdresses of the 5 pictured figures (Entry 213 of table 1)! 

It seems probable that some nonwater lilies are included in table 1, 
and ratings of A and B are given as an indication of the relative likeli- 
hood that a given depiction was intended as a water lily. Although 
these ratings are impressionistically arrived at, they take into consid- 
eration such factors as the resemblance to an actual water lily, the 
degree of stylization (which, if great, might suggest that the motif 
was employed without especial consideration for its original concept), 
the associations of the plant form (which may build into a number of 
crosscutting complexes, some of a highly specific order), the resem- 
blance to other flower representations which enter into such com- 
plexes, and the indistinctness of the sculpture or illustration. To 
some extent, then, the ratings reflect not only whether the represen- 
tation is a water lily but to what extent the concept of the water lily 
was probably present. The ratings are arbitrary in that they repre- 


84 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Buy. 151 


sent no real clustering into distinct levels, and the device of minus 
signs has in some cases been employed to further subdivide the 
A category. 

WATER-LILY LEAF 


The leaf, as has been indicated, is one of the most characteristic 
features of the water lily in Maya art. Maudslay especially noted 
the water-lily-like appearance of the leaves on his so-called ‘‘water- 
plants” from Palenque (Maudslay, 1889-1902, vol.4, p.37). Com- 
parison of these forms with Nymphaea ampla reveal striking like- 
nesses, inspite of an impressionistic treatment (cf. Lundell, 1937, pls. 
9,12). Maya treatment of the water-lily leaf typically takes the form 
of some combination of the following conventionalizations: 


ELEMENTS OF Maya TREATMENT OF THE WATER-LILY LEAF 


Element a. An irregular, sometimes wavy crosshachure suggests the roughened 
appearance of the water-lily pad (figs. 1b, 3f). 

Element b. Crosshachure occurs but is of a regular, even type (fig. 3c). 

Element c. Dots occur within the crosshachures, adding, perhaps, to the rough- 
ened appearance of the design (figs. 1b, 3f, g). 

Element d. A solid block of dots marks the surface of the leaf (Ruppert and Den- 
ison, 1943, fig. 51c). 

Element e. Crossed bands form the interior marking (fig. 2d). 

Element f. The outline of the leaf is notched or serrated, deeply (fig. 6d) to light- 
ly (fig. 1b). The occurrence of squarish protuberances is characteristic (figs. 
2d, 3g, 69). 

Element g. Ideally, a raised band outlines the margin of the leaf. Viewed in 
profile, the edge of the leaf flares upward and outward, with or without a 
distinct band resulting (figs. 6c, d, 1c). Or raised bands only may occur (fig. 
3f). Regarded as a variant of the ideal form, an unraised band separates 
an area of interior marking from the edge of the leaf (fig. 4a). 

Element h. An apparently raised band, more narrow, regular, and rounded than 
in g, occurs toward the interior of the leaf (figs. 4a, 5e, 6g). 

Element 7. A row of dots outlines the margin of the leaf (Lothrop, 1924, pl. 7). 

Element 7. Inner markings at the center of the leaf pass outward to the margin 
(or marginal band) (figs. 1b, 3f-h). 

Element k. The markings are restricted to an area well toward the center of 
the leaf. This area would seem to correspond to that of Element h (fig. 6). 

Element 1. Aside from bands, no interior markings appear (figs. 4a, 5e). 

Element m. Angular, notchlike elements, resembling a slightly curved V, pass 
outward, They may lead outward from a marginal band into the protuber- 
ances of the leaf as semi-independent entities (fig. 1c). The marginal band 
may assume this shape as it juts outward, following the contours of the leaf 
(fig. 1b). Interior markings may take on this form (fig. 3b). As a probable 
variant, small straight lines pass outward into the marginal band in the same 
way but lack the V-shape (figs. 3g, 6c). The relationship of this set of closely 
related forms to Element f is intimate. __ 


ANTHROP, PAP. 
No. 34] 


WATER LILY IN MAYA ART—RANDS 


85 


FieurE 1.—a, Amaravati, India. 0b, c, Palenque (Entries 78, 77). d, Chichen Itza (Entries 25, 26). 


86 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY (BULL. 151 


Ficurn 2.—a, Quirigua (Entry 104). 6b, Copan (Entry 50). c, Chama (Entry 
204). d, e, Chichen Itza (Entries 22, 28). f, Yaxchilan (Entry 152). 


ey ita WATER LILY IN MAYA ART—RANDS 87 


. 24 
FiagurE 3.—a, Santa Rita (Entry 121). 6, c, Tulum (Entries 129, 131). d, Yu- 
catan (Entry 221). e, Chichen Itza (Entry 23). f, Quirigua (Entry 118). 
g, Palenque (Entry 76). h, Dresden Codex (Entry 301). 7, Tikal (Entry 124), 
909871—53——_7 


88 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY {Buu. 151 


FicurE 4.—a, b, Palenque (Entries 69, 91). c, Copan (Entry 44). d, Yucatan 
(Entries 219, 220). e, Chichen Itza (Monjas). f, Rio Hondo (Entry 214). 
g, Kaminaljuyu (Entry 211). 


89 


WATER LILY IN MAYA ART—RANDS 


ANTHROP. PAP. 
No, 34] 


"(10% ‘0% selaquq) vureyH “6 ‘f *(g0% Aqua) reoleyH ‘a 
"(G1g AtjUq) opuox ony “Q “(6% “GE Solsquyy) e247 UEYOIyD % 


“(AIT Aaquq) ensuing ‘p “(gz ‘TL senjuq) enbuayeg ‘y ‘9 


‘yv—G TUoodl 


90 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLL. 151 


FicuRE 6.—a, Quirigua (Entry 111). 8, Copan (Entry 53). c, Dresden Codex 
(Entry 310). d, La Amelia (Entry 63). e, Vase (Entry 222). f, Palenque 
(Entry 70). g, h, Chichen Itza (Entries 27, 24). 


oe a WATER LILY IN MAYA ART—RANDS 91 


Some of these elements, such as raised marginal bands and marginal 
dots, are stylistic traits of wide occurrence in Classic Maya art, while 
crossed bands also occur widely. Other elements, such as the notchlike 
forms, are more distinctive. The occurrence of dots in wavy cross- 
hachure’ is ‘an unusual combination, but recurs in representations of 
the turtle shell (fig. 2d, and pp. 17a, 70b, 71a, 72b of the Madrid 
Codex). The leaf outline tends to be squarish to rectangular and is 
marked, as noted, with serrations and bumpy protuberances. The 
over-all configuration, caused by repeated appearance of the enumer- 
ated elements with this distinctive outline, stands out sharply in Maya 
art. Its unique quality is underscored by its almost universal 
association with floral forms; 

The occurrence of the artistic elements a through m is summarized, 
according to site, in table 2. Numerals refer to the number of water- 
lily leaves having a given trait. The large number of elements present 
at Palenque reflects the unusual number of representations depicting 
leaves at that site. Furthermore, Palenque, more than any other site, 
seems to possess these traits in their most “ideal” form. That is, for 
such traits as elements m, a, and perhaps c and f, the Palenque delin- 
eation seems either to represent a central trend around which the other 
sites tend to vary in different directions, or else the variation within 
one of these other sites points to less standardization than at Palenque 
in regard to these elements. The point is a vague but suggestive one. 
It may mean either that Palenque seized on certain generalized artistic 
attributes of the water-lily leaf and elaborated them in its own dis- 
tinctive ways or that Palenque was actually a source of inspiration and 
diffusion for these particular treatments. 

Two types of water-lily leaves may be recognized. One comprises 
most of the Palenque examples (Entries 68, 76, 77, 78 in table 1,* figs. 1b, 
c, 3g). One of the Quirigua leaves (Entry 118, fig. 3f) compares nota- 
bly in interior marking but varies in shape. The other group, to be 
discussed below in connection with the Over-all Type IIc, occurs at 
Bonampak, Chajecar, Calakmul, Ixkun, La Amelia, La Mar, Palenque, 
Quirigua, Yaxchilan, and perhaps in the Dresden Codex. As in- 
dicated, transitional features are numerous and the entire body of 
representations quite standardized. 

No Early Period representations of the water-lily leaf are definitely 
known to occur. The leaf appears in House C, Palenque, as glyphs 
in the inscribed stairway, forming part of a 9.8.9.13.0 Initial Series, and 
recurs as a stucco decoration on the inner wall of the West Corridor 
(Entries 68, 69, fig. 4a). While this suggests a rather early presence 
of the motif, the dating of Palenque is far from securely placed, and 
it is probable that these representations are considerably later. The 


4 Since all Entry numbers are from table 1, future references to specific Entries will omit table number. 


92 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 151 


chronological position of other water lily forms at Palenque is likewise 
unsure. One of the earlier water-lily leaves is on Stela 8, Piedras 
Negras (Entry 95), bearing a probable 9.14.15.0.0 inscription. 


FLOWER TYPES 


Contrasting somewhat with the standardization of the water lily 
leaf, a great diversity exists in the representation of the floral forms 
included in the tables. As suggested above, this may imply that non- 
water lilies have been included. However, even the flowers united 
by the fish and water-plant motif display marked variation. 

In considering the water-lily flower, 18 types, A through R, are 
recognized. Portions of the plant other than flowers may be included 
in a few instances. The types fall into five major groupings. The 
latter are based on whether or not the flower is shown in profile (the 
almost universal rule) and on the presence or absence of petals and 
sepals, The types are more specific and more finely calibrated than 
the groups. 


Groups AND TypEes of Maya TREATMENT OF THE FLOWER 


Group I. Both petals and sepals are indicated; the flower is in profile. 

Type A. The form of the flower’s top tends to be rounded to subtriangular in 
shape and occasionally takes on a slightly mammiform appearance. Zoning of 
the interior, which perhaps indicates stamens, is largely confined to this type (fig. 
1b, d). 

Type B. The flower is more widely opened than in Type A. Top and base are 
essentially flat. The width is great, the height small (fig. 2d). 

Type C. Unlike the other categories in Group I, the flower flares out widely 
toward the top, which is gently rounded. The form is highly symmetric and 
standardized. Sepals tend to taper toward the end; petals may terminate just 
short of the top, a crescent of marginal dots resulting (fig. 5a). 

Type D. Asin Type B, the flower has a flattish base and top, but it is elon- 

gated, being jong in comparison to its width. In this it would correspond more 
nearly to Types A and C (fig. 5e). 
& Type E. Asin Type B, the flower tends to be flattish and squat, but it is prob- 
ably the most distinctive of the types comprising Group I. Two qualities set it 
apart. One is its greatly thickened sepal. The second is its asymmetry, for not 
only does a thick sepal pair off with a narrow one, but the stem tends to be attached 
at a corner of the flower, rather than being placed beneath its center (fig. 6b). 
Flowers showing just one of these traits are regarded as variants of the type (fig. 
6d). In pure form the type often is further characterized by the occurrence of a 
row of marginal dots (cf. Type C) and by a serration of the edge of the thickened 
sepal in the way characteristic of water lily leaves. 

Group II. Sepals but not petals are definitely indicated; the flower is in profile. 

Type F. A wavy to jagged outline, enclosed by the sepals, gives a suggestion of 
petals. To this extent, the type seems transitional to Group I (fig. 5d). 

Type G. A shallow central area, probably indicating undifferentiated petals, 
is set between sepals (Maudslay, 1889-1902, vol. 2, pl. 14, No. 18). 

Type H. A rather wide, swollen central element rises beyond the enclosing 
sepals. Frequently this central element is of mammiform shape (figs. 4e, 5g). 


Re uatr WATER LILY IN MAYA ART—RANDS 93 


Apparently the central element usually represents undifferentiated petals, but its 
upward-jutting tip may sometimes indicate the rise of a third sepal. This in- 
terpretation would not be favored by the close resemblances to the mammiform 
but sepalless Type M. Type H, furthermore, tends toward uniformity. 

Type I. A number of forms are subsumed under this catch-all heading. They 
have in common the feature of a central element not well differentiated from the 
two enclosing outer ones. In this they contrast with Type H, where the distinc- 
tion between inner and outer elements is well marked. The inner element of Type 
I flowers is characteristically narrow. The partial unfolding of a flower may be 
indicated. In its frequently jagged appearance, the type seems transitional to 
Group III flowers, especially to Type J. Sometimes a fleur-de-lis shape is ap- 
proached (fig. 5c). 

Group III. Petals and sepals are undifferentiated; the flower is in profile. 

Type J. The flower is outspread. Straight lines may separate the petals or 
sepals (fig. 2c), semi-independent bands, rounded at the end, may be shown (fig. 
2e). Especially in the former case, the flaring shape and slightly rounded top 
compare suggestively with Type C flowers. 

Type K. Unlike Type J, the flower is unflaring and straight in its lines. The 
petal or sepal lines, which tend toward shortness, are straight. The length is 
usually great in comparison to the width (fig. 3b). An angular type of basal zon- 
ing, consisting of parallel horizontal lines, frequently occurs. 

Type L. The flower is partially outspread; rounded and waved petal or sepal 
lines occur. ‘To some extent the type is transitional to J and K; it has analogies 
to Type F but lacks definite sepal bands (fig. 6c). 

Group IV. Neither petals nor sepals are indicated, and these absences suggest 
that a leaf or pod rather than flower is indicated. Unopened buds may be repre- 
sented in some cases. Depiction is in profile. 

Type M. Theshape is mammiform, thereby corresponding to Type H flowers, 
but enclosing sepals are absent (figs. 4c, 6f). An unopened bud may be indicated, 
or perhaps a leaf. 

Type N. ‘The design is leaf-shaped (figs. 37, 4g). Together with Type M rep- 
resentations, it occurs on possible trees in the Maya codices (Dresden, 27ff). A — 
design on a vase from the Rio Hondo (Entry 215, fig. 5b) suggests, however, that 
the form may also depict an unopened bud. Here a Type N object is attached to 
a& curving stem. A second stem from the same source terminates in a similarly 
shaped form, but in this case a cleft tip and interior markings clearly indicate the 
partial unfolding of the petals or sepals (fig. 5b). Gann identifies the objects as 
water lily buds (Gann, 1918, p. 110). 

Type O. The design is elongate and paddle-shaped. An interior area, often 
lonzenge-shaped, is frequently set off, and small lines run out to the margins (fig. 
1d). 

Type P. The design shows similarities to Type O but assumes a constricted 
shape, small circles being enclosed in the wider portions of this highly elongate 
form. A seed pod of some sort is suggested (fig. 3a). 

Group V. The designs are not shown in profile. 

Type Q. A composite flower seems indicated, as if viewed in part from the top 
and partly from the side. Undifferentiated sepals or petals jut out from a circu- 
lar or semicircular base (figs. 3c, 4a, f, 69, h). 

Type R. The flower is viewed from the top. Lines suggesting petals or sepals, 
or concentric rings of lines, suggestive of stamens, petals, and sepals, radiate out- 
ward (fig. 4e). 


The Group I forms not only tend to be the most realistic flowers but 


94 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Buty 151 


are the ones most frequently associated with the fish in the well-known 
fish and water-plant motif. They offer, therefore, the best initial 
basis for an identification of art forms as water lilies, in terms of the 
treatment of the flower alone. 

Groups IV and V tend to be set off somewhat from the others. Spe- 
cific features link several of their types to those in the other groups, 
however. Type Q flowers with semicircular bases occur on stems in 
connection with Type A flowers and flower-eating fish at Chichen Itza 
(Entries 24, 27; fig. 6g, h). Type Q flowers with circular bases but 
otherwise of closely corresponding appearance also occur on Xultun 
stelae (Entries 139, 140) and on a Rio Hondo bow] (Entry 214, fig. 4f). 
In the latter case, mouths of fish are placed against the projecting 
petals or sepals, tending independently to support the identification of 
the form as a water lily. Analogous forms occur in the Tulum frescoes, 
in connection with probable water lily leaves as well as with Type K 
flowers and Type P seed pods. 

Type P pods are not as directly linked with Group I, II, or II 
designs. Forms apparently transitional to Types O and P occur, 
however, on a twisted stem pictured in the Madrid Codex (Entry 
314). The paddle-shaped Type O designs occur on one of the more 
surely identified water-lily stems at Chichen Itza (Entry 25, fig. 1d) 
and recur on corresponding stems elsewhere at the site (Entries 28, 
32,35). On one of these stems (Entry 32), the similar but constricted 
Type P seed pod also appears. These forms seem definitely to be 
associated with the same type of stem on which water lilies occur. 

A Type N-shaped design, tabulated also as a water lily leaf, appears 
on the same stalk as a Type P pod in the Santa Rita frescoes (Entry 
121, fig. 3a). An unopened leaf may be indicated, for the design in 
question bears such characteristics of water lily leaves as dots in 
connection with crosshachure. 

Type M designs, of Group IV, bear close resemblances to the 
mammiform but unsepaled Type H forms of Group II. These, in 
turn, are linked to the petaled and sepaled Type A representations of 
Group I by the slightly mammiform appearance which frequently 
characterizes the latter and by a design on a Yucatan vessel (Entry 
220, fig. 4d). Two mammiform flowers, of closely corresponding 
appearance, occur on a single knotted stem. One of the flowers lacks 
petals and is therefore to be classified as Type H; the other, with a 
few lines scratched in, is thereby Type A. In the same way, on the 
Bonampak murals, where color sometimes differentiates petals from 
sepals on the highly realistic water lilies, the filling in of petal lines 
seems to be a somewhat inconsistent, almost whimsical, matter of 
choice (Entries 8-12). 

The mammiform Type M designs, while probably portraying buds 


Schahhiae WATER LILY IN MAYA ART—RANDS 95 


or leaves, show certain resemblances to Maya representations of 
serpent rattles. This is particularly true in figure 6f (Entry 70), 
where the designs are so attached as to form a dangling, chainlike 
object (cf. Maler, 1901, pl. 18, No. 2; Morley, 1937-38, vol. 5, pl. 
139a). Elsewhere, however, flowers lacking this rattlelike appearance 
seem to be somewhat similarly attached (Entries 17, 151). The 
representations of Entry 70 seem, moreover, to be examples of the 
fish and water-plant motif, for the nibbling fish appear, their mouths 
placed against the Type M designs. 

Occurrences of the Flower Types are summarized, according to 
site, in table 3. Numerals refer to the number of flowers. Chichen 
Itza, with its vast array of flowers appearing in panels along the walls 
of several structures, has a wide variety of floral categories. Signifi- 
cantly small totals for this site appear only in connection with the 
asymmetrical Type E and the mammiform Types H and M. It 
should be noted in this connection that the slightly mammiform 
treatment of Type A flowers is fairly prominent at Chichen Itza, and 
that Type A is of extremely heavy occurrence there. Type I, which 
appears to be fairly closely related to Type H, is quite heavily 
represented at Chichen Itza. 

The Copan treatment is the most distinctive. Type E designs, 
while partially paralleled at several sites, occur in ‘‘pure” form only 
at Copan. The nearby sites of Quirigua and Paraiso display variant 
treatments, while others occur at Xultun, La Amelia, Seibal, and 
perhaps Chichen Itza. 

Other somewhat less notable trends exist according to site or region. 
Quirigua stands somewhat apart in its relative emphasis of the wavy- 
topped Type F flowers. The Usumacinta sites tend, in general, 
toward Group II representations, but in this they follow the emphasis 
of the Maya area as a whole. Copan and Palenque have a virtual 
monopoly of the mammiform Type M designs, except for certain 
untabulated forms in the Dresden Codex. The generally realistic 
Type A flowers are of sporadic occurrence in the Maya area outside 
northern Yucatan; the most noteworthy clusterings appear to be at 
Palenque and Bonampak. A variant of Chichen Itza’s flaring, highly 
distinctive Type C flower occurs at Palenque (fig. 1c); more strikingly, 
the form is duplicated in a single design at Chinkultic (Entry 43). The 
widely opened Type J flowers at Chichen Itza and Chama also display 
surprising resemblances, considering the virtual absence of the form 
elsewhere (cf. such Chichen Itza representations as Entry 40 with 
Entry 204 and Gordon and Mason, 1925-43, vol. 1, pl. 2). Group 
III flowers are almost exclusively confined to the northern Yucatan 
sites, the codices, and Alta Verapaz pottery, being virtually nonexistent 
in the Classic Maya sites of the Central Region. Chichen Itza also 


96 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL 151 


shares with Tulum, Santa Rita, or the Madrid Codex such types of 
low occurrence or limited distribution as P, Q, and R. 

Unusual similarities in the depiction of a group of flowers from 
separated regions are of considerable interest. Portrayals from the 
northern Yucatan site of Xcalumkin compare, on the one hand, 
with Yaxchilan (Entries 134a, 147) and on the other with a vase 
from Nebaj in the Alta Verapaz (Entries 134b, 213). A variant 
Type A design, which may, however, represent featherwork, compares 
suggestively with this group (Entries 81d, 134b, 213). 

For most of the sites, however, representations are too few to permit 
much in the way of meaningful generalizations. Only those centers 
well known for their stone carvinys or murals offer much in the way 
of comparative material. 

Petaled and sepaled Group I flowers occur rarely if ever prior to late 
Classic Period times. At Copan, for example, the highly standardized 
Type E form appears only in 9.16.10.0.0, well along in a sequence of 
floral or leaf forms which dates back some ten katuns. ‘Thereafter, 
this type dominates flower representations at the site. Type A 
flowers at Palenque and Piedras Negras may be the earliest of the 
Group I designs. It is of interest, accordingly, that a variant Type 
E representation, lacking the thickened sepal but sharing its asym- 
metry, its over-all contours, and its row of dots along the outer edge 
of the petals, apparently occurs quite early on Stela 19, Xultun 
(Entry 136). Morley tentatively assigns the monument on stylistic 
grounds to the first quarter of Baktun 9 (Morley, 1937-38, vol. 1, 
p. 392). 

Type M and N designs, unsepaled and unpetaled, seem generally 
to have a chronological precedence. Leaflike Type N representations 
occur on an Esperanza Period vase from Kaminaljuyu (Entry 211, 
fig. 4g), on Stela 1, Tikal, dated by Morley from ‘‘very early in Baktun 
9, perhaps as early as 9.1.0.0.0” (Morley, 1937-38, vol. 1, p. 297; 
Entry 124, fig. 32), and on the Ball Court Marker at Chinkultic, 
which bears a possibly contemporaneous 9.7.17.12.14 Initial Series 
inscription (Entry 43). It also precedes the Type E flowers at Copan, 
occurring there perhaps in both Katuns 11 and 12 (Entries 48, 49). 
The mammiform Type M designs seemingly occur somewhat earlier 
than the N forms at Copan, in 9.6.10.0.0 and 9.10.15.0.0 (Entries 44, 
45). The type reappears at Palenque on the piers of House A, which 
bears an Initial Series date of 9.8.16.15.13 but that is more probably 
to be placed in Katun 14 (Entry 70, fig. 6f; Proskouriakoff, 1950, 
p. 192). Perhaps there was a tendency in later times for the sepaled 
Type H form to replace the unsepaled Type M. 

Broad chronological trends in the development of floral art in the 
Maya sculptures and murals may be postulated on the basis of the 


er WATER LILY IN MAYA ART—RANDS 97 


tabulated data. Type M and N flowers of Group IV category would 
appear to be of initial occurrence. Lacking sepal]s as well as petals, 
they may actually represent leaves. Sepaled Group II flowers, 
especially H and I, eventually replaced them in popularity. Shortly 
thereafter, Group I petaled and sepaled flowers, which include the 
most surely identified water lilies, appeared and gained in favor. 
Their vogue lasted into the Mexican Period, as witnessed by numerous 
examples in the Ball Court complex but not in the sculpture of 
supposedly later buildings at Chichen Itza (Tozzer, 1930; cf. Pros- 
kouriakoff, 1950, p. 171). The Dresden Codex, however, retained 
Type H forms, many of which do not appear in the tables. Not in 
profile and of limited occurrence, Group V types would seem to come 
in during late Classic times and continue into subsequent Yucatecan 
art. Finally, in Mexican Period times or later, Group III flowers 
(petals and sepals undifferentiated), as well as such divergent Group 
II types as O and P, have almost their only known occurrences. 


FLOWER ELEMENTS 


Certain detailed elements marking the flower remain to be con- 
sidered. Some of these elements, in conjunction with the over-all 
shape of the flower, comprise the criteria upon which the flower types 
just discussed are based. Others are nondiagnostic. The elements 
relate primarily to markings within the flower but in some cases 
concern its shape or appendages. They are described in terms of the 
structure of the flower, for in many cases it seems certain that they 
are standardized conventionalizations of flower parts. 


ELEMENTS OF THE Maya TREATMENT OF THE WATER-LILY FLOWER 


Element a. Petals are indicated by lines which occasionally have the semidistinct 
quality of bands, causing slight to marked serrations at the flower’s top 
(figs. 3e, 6e). Usually, however, they merely rise to an essentially unbroken 
surface (figs. 1b-d). Lines may pass fully to the base of the flower or may 
terminate sooner. In the latter case, something akin to the “zoning” of 
Elements k& through o results. 

Element 6. Two enclosing sepals are indicated by bands which flank the corolla 
or inner portion of the flower (figs. 2d, 5g, h). Considerable variation exists 
in the relative length and straightness of the sepals and in the angle at which 
they pass outward from the base (figs. 1d, 6d). 

Element c. The general remarks made about Element b apply, but a third sepal 
passes up the center of the flower (figs. 1b, 3g, 5a). 

Element d. Bands or lines pass to the flower’s surface, but it is not clear whether 
petals or sepals are intended (figs. 2c, e, 3b). 

Element e. The sepal is heavily thickened (fig. 6b). 

Element f. The stem enters the flower proper (figs. 3h, 4c, d). 

Element g. At the flower’s base, the top of a sepal band whose lower edge is flat 
juts upward into the flower proper (figs. 2a, 3d, 5d). In appearance, the 


98 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bun 151 


design seems transitional on the one hand to 6 and c type sepal bands and 
on the other to Elements h and 7. 

Element h. A band or line passes along the central axis of the flower, but, differ- 
entiated at its base from the flanking Element b sepals and the stem, it is 
probably neither a third sepal nor an entering stem. A tentative identification 
as the ovary (the enlarged basal portion of the pistil) is suggested (figs. 2a, 
3e). Variant forms, which may be sepals, occur (figs. Ic, 5e, 6e). 

Element 7. A row of dots or circles, or a single centrally placed dot, passes simi- 
larly along the central axis of the flower (figs. 3h, 4d, 5h). In position it 
corresponds to Element h and, like it, may have some connection with the 
pistil. 

Element 7. Marginal dots or circles appear at the outer tips of the petals. Ideally, 
the row of dots is unbroken and close-set (figs. 5a, e, 6b). 

Element k. A row of dots sets off a zone toward the base of the flower (figs. 1b, 
c, 3e). Stamens or carpels may be indicated. 

Element /. Essentially vertical lines set off a zone toward the base of the flower 
and, as previously suggested, may indicate the stamens (fig. 6h). 

Element m. Crosshachure sets off a zone toward the base of the flower (figs. 3d, 
e, 6e). This zoning may have conventional significance of the sort suggested 
for the preceding elements. The interpretation is especially favored by a 
probable water lily, depicted on a gold plaque from the Sacred Cenote at 
Chichen Itza, which displays crosshachure in the interior area where stamens 
would occur (Willard, 1926, p. 129). 

Element n. Semicircular lines or differences in coloring set off an area toward 
the base (figs. 1b, c). 

Element o. Straight, horizontal lines crosscut the flower, occurring mostly 
although not exclusively toward the base. This element occurs principally 
with Flower Type K. 

Element p. An enclosed inner area is marked off, sometimes paralleling the shape 
of the flower and sometimes differing from it (figs. 2a, 3b, 4c). Upper as 
well as lower portions of the flower are subject to this marking. 

Element q. The flower takes on a mammiform shape, this usually being the form 
of the top but also known to be the shape of inner Element p (figs. 4e, 2a). 
The mammiform quality may be subtly suggested by the contour of the 
individual petals (fig. 6h), developed (fig. 4c) or exaggerated (fig. 5g). 

Element r. The stem swells slightly, then depresses, just prior to its juncture 
with the flower. The more realistic treatments of this phenomenon, which 
occurs on water lilies, are not tabulated, but exaggerated instances of it, 
which presumably go back to this prototype in nature, are regarded as the 
element (fig. 2b; cf. Maudslay, 1889-1902, vol. 4, pl. 26, No. 4; Palacios, 
1937a, fig. 41). 

Element s. Small scrolls or a roughened, knobby treatment occur at the place of 
juncture between stem and flower (fig. 1c). 

Element t. Scrolled, sepallike elements occur at or near the base of the flower. 
The symmetrical placing of two highly curved elements below the main sepals 
is regarded as the “‘pure’’ form of this element (fig. 1d, 3e, 6h). 

Element u. A somewhat similar effect is gained by the loose, dangling end of a 
knotted stem (fig. 6b). Although perhaps fortuitous, the resemblance to 
Element t is striking. 

Element v. Plumes pass outward from the flower, thus assuming somewhat the 
position of the fish in the fish and water-plant motif (fig. 1d). 


An additional artistic feature of some importance is not, unfortu- 


a at WATER LILY IN MAYA ART—RANDS 99 


nately, made the special subject of tabulation. It consists of a long, 
frequently curving element which extends beyond the central part 
of the corolla. Sepallike, it often results in a questioned tabulation of 
either two or three sepals. Often an exaggeration of the mammiform 
Element g is suggested. Yet, notwithstanding considerable variation 
in treatment, the element has a quality of its own (figs. 2f, 3d, 4d, 5e). 

As revealed in table 4, an unusually large number of flower elements 
occur at Chichen Itza, Palenque, Copan, and Quirigua. Of the 22 
elements, only 2 or 3 are absent from Chichen Itza. One of these, 
Element 72 (a row of dots along the center of the flower), is a rather 
striking omission, in view of its widespread occurrence in the Maya 
area as a whole. Chichen Itza emphasizes two- rather than three- 
sepaled flowers (Element 6) and, correlating with its large number of 
Group III flower types, has a heavy occurrence of undifferentiated 
petals and sepals (Element d). More than 50 percent of the tabulated 
flowers having petals occur at this one site (Element a). Sepal scrolls 
(Element ¢) are largely confined to Chichen Itza. The mammiform 
Element g is of unusually high occurrence at Palenque. The thick- 
ened sepal (Element e) and the loose end of a knotted stem (Element 
u) are characteristic of Copan. No single element stands out at 
Quirigua. Instead the site seems cosmopolitan, sampling widely and 
not greatly emphasizing any particular approach. 

Some traits are shared to a seemingly significant degree by only 
two or three sites. The various elements of basal zoning (k through 
0) are unusually developed at Chichen Itza, Palenque, and in the 
Alta Verapaz. Elements k and n (basal dots, curved basal lines) 
provide special correspondences between Chichen Itza and Palenque 
(figs. 3e, 6h, 1b, c). While of low occurrence, the knobby area of 
juncture between stem and flower (Element s) is perhaps confined 
exclusively to Palenque and Chichen Itza. Dots placed at the tips 
of the petals (Element 7) occur in any frequency only at Chichen 
Itza and Copan. Sepals notably in the tradition of Chichen Itza 
appear at Xcocha, Chama, Quirigua, and Yaxchilan (Entry 134c, 
figs. 5e, 2a, f). The only occurrences on the monuments of Element 
v (feathers placed against the flower) may be at Chichen Itza and 
northern Yucatan, but the form if not the concept is duplicated at 
Quirigua and perhaps Palenque. Moreover, unless balls of featherwork 
have been misclassified as flowers, the same association takes place 
on pottery from Yucatan and the Middle Motagua, and it may be 
present in the codices. 

The data of the tables show a general tendency for Flower Ele- 
ments f, p, g, and h to have a chronological priority over the others. 
These traits (stem entering flower, inner area, mammiform shape, 
and line along center of flower) are often associated with Flower 


100 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLL. 151 


Groups II and IV. Making their appearance considerably later in 
Classic times if not, in some cases, subsequent to it, are Flower Ele- 
ments l, m, 0, and v (various types of basal zoning and feathers pend- 
ent from the flower). Perhaps to this late category should be added 
Elements g, 7, and wu (jutting of sepal into flower’s base, circles at 
flower’s top, and sepallike appearance of a knotted stem). Regard- 
less of the time of first appearance in the floral art of the sculptures, 
however, the traits agree in their pattern of continuation until the 
latest known times. 


STEM AND ROOT 


Wide variation exists in the representations of the plant stems. 
The treatment may be quite simple when the flower occurs as a head- 
dress ornament, the mere suggestion of a knot perhaps being shown. 
Frequently, however, the knotting is made the subject of great elab- 
oration. This is particularly true at Copan (fig. 66) and in Copan- 
like treatments at Quirigua (Entries 105, 113). Kmotting of flower 
stems around the wrists of a crocodilelike being also occurs at Copan, 
in connection with fish (Entry 58). Flower stems are bound around 
the arms and wrists of figures in the Santa Rita frescoes, taking on a 
ropelike quality (Entry 120). Flower stems are wound around the 
waist in the Tulum frescoes (Entry 133). The knotting of stalks 
into scrolled or angular panel forms may be another manifestation 
of the same tradition (fig. 4d). 

Six Panel Types are recognized for the shapes assumed by the 
stem (table 1). The forms are basically geometric and, notwith- 
standing considerable superficial modification, are rather highly 
standardized. 


Typres or Maya TREATMENT OF THE STEM AS A PANEL 


A. The stem rises and falls in angular undulations (fig. 1c, d). 

B. The stem is a basically horizontal band which passes downward at either end. 
In certain instances (Entries 71, 118, fig. 3f) the band is halved, the dis- 
connected portions balancing one another to achieve the effect. 

C. The stem is a basically horizontal band which, however, takes the form of an 
inverted, much-flattened T. It descends from its source and divides, passing 
horizontally on either side and then jutting slightly upward (fig. 2f). 

. A U-shape is taken by the stem. 

. The stem passes back on itself to form an enclosure. Knotting of the sort 
just discussed may occur. The height tends to exceed the width and the 
contours tend to be angular, but a circular wreathlike form is also known 
(fig. 4d). 

F. Highly scrolled and cursive aspects basically modify the angular qualities of 

the panel type. 


Ho 


coer ial WATER LILY IN MAYA ART—RANDS 101 

Panel Type A is perhaps exclusively confined to Chichen Itza and 
Palenque. It appears in great strength at the former site, its occur- 
rences at the latter usually being subject to cursive modification. One 
of the Palenque Type A panels is highly angular, however (fig. 1c). 
Occurring along the walls of buildings at Chichen Itza, where space 
limitations are not so great as on the stucco piers at Palenque, the 
panels tend to be much longer. Dating at Palenque is in doubt, but 
Proskouriakoff (1950, pp. 137-192) regards the piers of House D, in 
which the two typical examples occur, to be the latest in the Palace 
complex, from about Katun 16 of Baktun 9. The Sayil example 
compares in part. 

Panel Type B occurs more widely, being known from Copan, 
Palenque, Quirigua, and perhaps Cancuen and Tulum, and on Alta 
Verapaz ceramics. Its earliest dated appearance is probably in 
Katun 10. 

Panel Type C occurs prominently at Piedras Negras, where it dates 
from Katuns 12 to 16, and appears also at Yaxchilan and Chichen 
Itza (fig. 2f,d). Many striking parallels exist in the latter representa- 
tions. The type is suggested at Tulum. 

Panel Type D occurs at Copan and Quirigua (Katuns 15, 16). 

Panel Type E occurs prominently on two Quirigua stelae (Katun 17) 
and in the Dresden, Madrid, and Perez Codices. 

A tuberous root, probably the water lily rhizome, is occasionally 
depicted. It occurs with striking realism on a vase from Yucatan 
(fig. 6e). Similar designs occur at Palenque (fig. le and, perhaps, 10). 
Stylized, the rounded objects at the ends of long stems at Sayil (Entry 
121b) compare with the rhizomes of figure 6e, both in marking and in 
position. Analogous forms, which recapture much of the same swollen, 
knobby appearance, are discussed below in connection with the Over- 
all Type Ile. They are found at Palenque, Chichen Itza, the Alta 
Verapaz, and, in highly variant form, Copan. 

Uncertainties in the chronological record, coupled with the lack of 
sufficient data about representations on media other than the monu- 
ments, prohibit more than speculation about the development of floral 
forms. In analyzing the water lily forms, however, one is constantly 
forced to revert to the decorations in the Palace at Palenque. Here 
occur what seem to be the most realistic portrayals, the most convinc- 
ing prototypes to nature, the most characteristic conventionalizations 
(figs. 1b, c, 3g). Stela 8 at Piedras Negras, which displays rather close 
similarities in flower and leaves, is relatively early (9.14.15.0.0?). It is 
tempting to look toward the Usumacinta region for the major develop- 
ments in the elaboration of the water lily. 


102 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLL. 151 


MYTHIC ASSOCIATIONS OF PROBABLE WATER LILIES 
GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS 


As has been indicated, the water lily has frequently been associated 
with mythologic figures in highly distinctive ways in Maya art. 
These associations are given for individual representations in table 1 
and are summarized in tables 5 and 6. 

The mythic or symbolic associations are of different sorts: (1) The 
source of the water lily, i. e., the representations from which it seems to 
emerge; (2) the anatomical portion of a being from which the water lily 
emerges; and (3) the figures occurring amidst the plant. Additional 
features tabulated are the presence of flower-eating fish and of death 
symbols, the latter said by Lothrop to be a recurrent feature with water 
plants (Lothrop, 1926, p. 161; Thompson, 1950). The presence of 
the water lily in human and nonhuman headdresses is also noted, 
and the occurrence of these forms in glyphs is indicated. Presences 
of water lilies anywhere in the often very elaborate human head- 
dresses are recorded. Only those water lilies which appear actually 
to be worn are recorded for nonhuman headdresses, the growth of 
plants from the head being classified under a separate category. 

Mythic beings serving as the source of the plant are the heads of 
various long-nosed, serpentine, and perhaps bird forms, subsumed 
under the name of ‘‘Serpent Head X”’; > the Long-nosed God, complete 
with body; various forms with birdlike attributes, tabulated separately 
under the headings ‘‘Wing Panel,” ‘Serpent Bird,” and “Bird,” but 
perhaps to be treated as manifestations of a single entity;® and the 
jaguar. Mask panels, which quite frequently may be representations 
of “Serpent Head X” or “Serpent Bird’ forms, also occur as the 
source of the plant. Aside from the jaguar, which seems to stand 
somewhat aloof, the complex is a tightly knit one. Substitution of 
attributes appears to have been marked, both on an artistic and con- 
ceptual level. 


§ The term ‘‘Serpent Head X” is taken from Kidder, Jennings, and Shook (1946, pp. 223--226). It has prob- 
ably been extended somewhat in meaning from their original usage, but the interchange of artistic attributes 
among beings of possibly diverse origins has been so great that some all-inclusive term is required in the 
summary tables. ‘Serpent Head X”’ fits admirably, for most of the forms tabulated under this heading 
fall well within the range so designated by these authors. They have, moreover, called attention to the 
association of floral and leaf forms (Flower Types Q, N, in the present paper) with the mythic being in 
question. 

6 The term “‘Serpent Bird” is taken from Maudslay, who illustrated a number of examples of this being. 
According to him, its diagnostic feature was the profile conventionalization of a snake head, lacking a lower 
jaw, that is placed at the bony wing structure of a bird or used as an isolated element (Maudslay, 1889-1902, 
vol. 1, pl. 99, pp. 63-64). Spinden, however, questioned that this feature was of sufficient significance to 
warrant the equation of all forms showing it and employed the term ‘‘Wing Pane)” in referring to it (Spinden, 
1913, pp. 60-61, 78). As “Bird’’ is used in tabulations of the present paper, the body of a bird or even the 
somewhat conventionalized head of a creature possessing its characteristics is acceptable. But birdlike 
features on a Long-nosed God type of head result in tabulation under ‘‘Serpent Head X.” 


a Spal WATER LILY IN MAYA ART—RANDS 103 


Largely in relation to these beings, the primary anatomical sources 
of the plant seem to be the top of the head and the ears, eyes, mouth, 
and hands; perhaps the nose and the neck should be included. So 
far as the jaguar is concerned, the only anatomical source is apparently 
the head (or possibly the ear, to which the stem eventually may lead 
back); this seems clear-cut. The case is much more complex for the 
other beings. It seems possible, however, that the emergence of the 
water lily from the head is primarily a feature of the Long-nosed 
Serpent Head X forms. Less certainly, the issuance of the plant 
from the mouth appears to be mainly associated with the Serpent 
Bird and its close affiliates. Ear, nose, and eyes as anatomical 
sources are shuttled back and forth among the various beings in a 
most complex way. 


HANDS OR ARMS; FIGURES AMIDST PLANT 


Hands or arms as sources from which the plant springs, or through 
which it passes, fit a different pattern. Human or anthropomorphic 
figures tend to occur with their bodies wholly or largely depicted, 
thus contrasting with the emphasis on detached heads or mask panels 
characteristic of the other anatomical sources. At Chichen Itza, in 
what must surely be representations of water lilies, numerous seated 
human figures are holding the undulating plants (fig. 1d). Two figures 
at Quirigua, one shown with jaguar paws, stand under a canopylike, 
Panel Type E arrangement of creepers or stems, the lower portions 
of which are held in their hands and arms (Entries 108, 109). Else- 
where at Quirigua and at Copan, the bodies of human figures that hold 
elaborated stalks are only partially depicted (Entries 115, 50, 51). 
This is also true at Palenque, where the Long-nosed God and so-called 
“Maize God’ (Spinden, 1913, p. 89) are associated ‘with elaborate 
stems or vines that pass from their hands (Entries 90, 81). Although 
the bodies of these Palenque and Copan figures are incompletely shown, 
the assumption of a reclining position analogous to that at Chichen 
Itza is indicated. The Long-nosed Deities, Gods B and K, occur in a 
somewhat similar situation in the Dresden Codex (Entry 305). <A 
stalk or vine, held in the hands of God B, encloses the seated figure 
of God K ina Type E panel. The resemblance to the Quirigua figures 
just cited is suggestive (Entries 108, 109). Figures appear in panels, 
composed of interlaced vine or stalk forms, in the Madrid and Perez 
Codices (Entries 313, 317). They do not hold the stems, however. 

A seated human figure from Palenque holds a water-lily leaf in its 
upraised hand (Entry 76, fig.3g). Astem terminating in a realistically 
treated Type A flower hangs from the leaf. This appears to be one 
of the more securely identified water lilies in Maya art. A similar 

909871538 


104 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 151 


representation occurs in the Dresden Codex, held in the hand of the 
Long-nosed God (Entry 301, fig. 3h). Additional appendages suggest 
that some sort of paraphernalia is depicted, but the basic elements of 
water lily pad that is held in the hand and flower which hangs from 
the pad seems to be duplicated. A design on a Yucatan bowl shows 
a flower stemming from an unidentified object which is held in the 
hand (Entry 221, fig. 3d). The flower, Type B, is of interest because 
of its resemblances to some of the more surely identified water lilies 
at Chichen Itza. Its general contours and, in particular, the treat- 
ment of Flower Element g closely parallel the flower at the extreme 
right in figure 1d. Flowers, associated or unassociated with possible 
water lily leaves, seem to be attached to some sort of paraphernalia 
that is held in the hand in the Tulum frescoes and perhaps the Dresden 
Codex (Entries 131, 307). 

A series of pictures in the Dresden Codex show God B holding or 
plucking stalklike objects. The stems arise from realistically de- 
picted or conventionalized surface water (Entries 302, 303) and occur 
in association with fish (Entries 301, 304). Dancing, the god holds 
stems that are apparently rooted as creepers (Entry 304). These 
features suggest that the water lily, or at least some sort of water- 
plant, is depicted. 

A Sayil panel shows a grotesque head in full face with arms stretching 
to either side (Entry 121b). The hands hold bulbous objects, which 
resemble the probable water lily rhizomes of figure 6e. One end of a 
pair of stems passes from these objects, while at the other end the 
stems issue from the eyes of the being. 


HEAD OR FOREHEAD 


The attachment of water lilies to the heads of Long-nosed God 
forms, or the actual growth of the plants from their heads, is apparent 
in a number of representations. Two highly specialized complexes, 
essentially identical to the Over-all Types IIc and Ile, emerge. 

In a handful of representations, a distinctively shaped design, 
which may indicate the water lily rhizome, passes upward from the 
head of the Long-nosed God, branching once. It is known to occur 
only at Palenque, on Chama pottery, and in surprisingly similar 
form at Chichen Itza (Entries 73, 80, 201, 205, 29; figs. 5A, 2, g). 
The design is somewhat tuberous in appearance and recalls the more 
realistically depicted rhizomes of Entries 77 and 22 (figs. 1c, 6e). In 
narrowing abruptly at the end, the vestigial stem which is thus formed 
(Over-all Type Ile) penetrates a flower of mammiform characteris- 
tics (Flower Elements f, g). The clear-cut features of the motif and 
the fact that, like other realistic representations of the rhizome, it is 
connected with the Long-nosed God type of head, make it of special 


A PIPAP. 
ay ll WATER LILY IN MAYA ART—RANDS 105 


interest. Somewhat similar designs, lacking identifiable water lily 
attributes, appear at Yaxchilan, Naranjo, and Bonampak (Maler, 
1903, pl. 58; 1908 a, pl. 40, No. 1; Villagra Caleti, 1949, Room 3 of 
Structure 1). 

In a series of Type IIc representations, the water-lily leaf is appar- 
ently tied to the forehead of mythic or human beings by a flower, 
presumably also a water lily. The most certain representation of a 
water-lily leaf at the forehead occurs in House C, Palenque (Entry 68). 
Here it is not tied on by a flower, but it provides a not-to-be-disputed 
precedent for the occurrence ot water-lily leaves at the forehead. 
At Copan, where it forms the well-known fish and water-plant motif, 
the flower which attaches the water lily is Type E (Entry 53, fig. 60). 
Here the leaf appears in front view, but the profile depictions form a 
somewhat more sharply defined and more numerous complex (e. g., 
figs. 4a, 5e, 6c, d). The rounded interior band (Element A) is especially 
pronounced, the outward marginal flare is emphasized, the shape is 
essentially square rather than rectangular, and the notched outline 
(Element f) tends to be characterized by sharp rather than squarish 
protuberances. Nevertheless, the differences seem to be ones of 
degree rather than kind. Vestigial marginal notches (Element m) in 
the Dresden Codex are akin to those at Palenque (Entries 310, 76). 
The flower at La Amelia shows resemblances to the asymmetrical 
Type E flowers at Copan (Entries 63, 53, figs. 6d, b). The flowers 
on a Chajcar vessel were recognized as water plants by Maudslay, 
and the stalks form an elaborate panel, of the general sort that 
characterizes some of the most surely identified of the water lilies in 
Maya art (Entry 208, fig. 5e). 

The lower protuberances of profile water-lily leaves mentioned 
above are of particular interest, for they jut downward into the eye 
orbit in a way strongly reminiscent of the heavy bony brow ridges 
that appear with fair frequency on grotesque heads and fleshless 
skulls in Maya art. Altar R, Copan, illustrates this treatment nicely 
(Maudslay, 1889-1902, vol. 1, pl. 94a). A complex process of con- 
vergence, based on artistic interplay of motifs associated with the 
forehead, may be involved. In any event, the designs in question 
are set off sharply in other ways, and have close, crosscutting ties to 
the somewhat more definitely indentified water lily leaves and flowers. 

In additional representations, foreheads which are marked by no 
water-lily leaves are nevertheless decorated by knotted flowers of 
possible water lily type. Full-face mask panels seem frequently to 
be treated in this way. The fish and water-plant motif occurs with 
these associations on exterior friezes of the Temple of the Cross, 
Palenque (Entry 84). In one of these representations, the stem is 
treated as a solid band. The forehead design on Altar U, Copan, is 


106 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLy. 151 


comparable, and the motif may occur here in more stylized form 
(Maudslay, 1889-1902, vol. 1, pl. 97a). Floral forms, which tend to 
be of the mammiform Flower Type H, occur with some frequency at 
the ends of head bands on mask panels in the Puuc Period archi- 
tecture of Yucatan. The bands are sometimes composed of series of 
flowers in top view. The Monjas complexes, at both Chichen Itza 
and Uxmal, are rich in this sort of design (Seler, 1902-23, vol. 3, 
p. 713, fig. 2; vol. 4, p. 538, figs. 266-268; vol. 5, pp. 210, 224, 226, 
236, 245, figs. 15, 35, 37, 38, 48, 63). These occurrences are not 
tabulated but are exemplified in figure 4e. Type J flowers are sug- 
gested in other representations which are worked into the mask 
panels and which occur on the same “‘stem”’ as a Group II floral type 
(Seler 1902-23, vol. 3, p. 713, fig. 2). The forms are often highly 
stylized and, while some relationship to floral designs is apparent, 
neither the possible role of convergence nor relationships with the 
water lily as such is clear. It is for this reason that they are omitted 
from the tables. 

The occurrence of water-lily leaves without accompanying stems 
and flowers (Over-all Type IV) is much more limited. The presence 
of a probably unaccompanied leaf in House C, Palenque, on the 
forehead of one of nine stucco masks on the inner wall of the West 
Corridor, has been alluded to previously (Entry 68). A possible 
association of the water lily with one of the Nine Lords of the Under- 
world is suggested. (Cf. Thompson, 1950.) On Zoomorph P, 
Quirigua, elongated leaves apparently are placed at the foreheads of 
the mythic animal which comprises the boulder and of the mask carved 
upon its upper surface (Entry 118, fig. 3f). 


EYES 


A Mexican Period mask panel at Chichen Itza, which has interesting 
correspondences to several Classic Maya sites, is apparently marked 
at the forehead by a water lily leaf (Entry 22, fig. 2d). The squarish 
protuberances so characteristic of Leaf Element f overlie the eye 
orbits. Two stems apparently descend from the leaf, each cutting 
across an eye. The representation compares to the descent of the 
stem from a leaf in figure 3g, but at the same time it suggests the 
emergence of the stalks from the eyes. This motif occurs elsewhere 
at Chichen Itza (Entry 19), but is otherwise known only from a Sayil 
lintel (Entry 121b), Stela B, Copan, where it is repeated, and Stela 7, 
Yaxchilan (Entries 50, 152, fig. 2b, f). The latter monument is es- 
pecially similar, for the stem likewise rises in a Type C panel in which 
animals appear. At Chichen Itza the animals are a water bird and 
turtle (Entry 22, fig. 2d), while in the Yaxchilan representation they 
are rodentlike. At Yaxchilan and Copan the eyes are feathered, 


aera. WATER LILY IN MAYA ART—RANDS 107 


although at the former site the being is a Long-nosed God form and at 
the latter, perhaps, a highly conventionalized bird. Stela 7, Yax- 
chilan, may date from Katuns 15 or 16 of Baktun 9, while Stela B, 
Copan, bears a 9.15.0.0.0 inscription. 

The representation on Stela B, Copan, has interesting analogies in 
Classic Maya art. At Copan the stalk which hangs down from the 
eye has an inverted Long-nosed God head dangling from it; the stem 
then passes horizontally into the hand of a small human figure. 
The grotesque face from which the stem descends is in profile. Its 
nose or beak hangs down in a way resembling full-face representations 
of the Serpent Bird, and its feathered eye may be associated with that 
being (Maudslay, 1889-1902, vol. 1, pl. 99; Maler, 1903, pl. 70). It 
is identical, for practical purposes, to the profile mask at Palenque 
upon which the water-lily-holding figure is seated (Entry 76). This 
suggests that at Copan, too, the water lily may be depicted, although 
neither flowers nor leaves occur. On Stela D, Quirigua, a stem passes 
in a corresponding way from its source, in connection with a birdlike 
being, to the head of a Long-nosed God (Entry 104, fig. 2a). Here the 
stem seemingly emerges from the bird’s mouth or, possibly, chest. 
A fish occurs at the bird’s head or headdress which may, therefore, 
have water lily connections. 


MOUTH 


The emergence of water-lily-like plants from the mouth falls into two 
or three well-defined complexes. One finds stems passing from the 
corners of the mouth of a being shown in full face. The stems tend 
to pass outward in elaborate panels (Types A, B). The beings often 
show birdlike features; a Palenque example (Entry 72) is the Serpent 
Bird. The forehead of another, from Chichen Itza, is marked with 
crossed bands of the type seen to be present in a probable water lily 
leaf elsewhere at the site (Entries 24, 22). The latter representations 
are among the more certainly identified water lilies in Maya art. 
This complex appears at Chichen Itza, Palenque, and Piedras Negras 
(Entries 24, 72, 95, 99). 

A second complex, relating to the emergence of a plant from the 
mouth, is known only from the site of Xultun (Entries 136-140). 
Flowers issue from the mouths of small cats, which are held in the 
hands of human figures. The composite Flower Type Q occurs, as 
does an asymmetrical form suggestive of Type E. 

A third complex may, more remotely, refer to the emergence of 
flowers from the mouth. The missing lower jaw of the Wing Panel, a 
serpent head in profile, is replaced by numerous foreign elements such 
as feathers and nose plugs. Among the substituting elements are 
floral forms, placed partially behind the teeth, thereby giving the 


108 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 151 


impression of emerging from the mouth. Conceivably the associa- 
tion is a conceptually fortuitous one, but it occurs in connection with 
the fish and water-plant motif at Palenque (Entries 70, 75, fig. 6f) and 
in highly interesting designs on Stelae A and C and Zoomorph P, 
Quirigua (Entries 108, 109, 115). At the latter site, flowers appear 
with the Wing Panel at the wing of the Serpent Bird (Entries 108, 
109), and in at least one of these cases the outline of the Wing Panel 
is formed by a stem or vine (Entry 115). The stem is held in the 
hands of a human figure in each representation. In Entries 108 and 
109, the stem may have its source at the head, beak, or ear of a much- 
eroded Serpent Bird, but, in any case, it terminates in the inverted 
heads of Long-nosed God forms. In this joining by means of stems 
or vines of Long-nosed God heads with the heads of probable birds, 
the pattern of Stela D, Quirigua, and Stela B, Copan, is repeated (En- 
tries 104, 50). 

In the Dresden Codex a probable stem, issuing from the mouth of an 
anthropomorphic vulture, is held in the bird’s hand (Entry 308). 
This recalls the Sayil portrayal of the emergence of stalks from the 
eyes of a being who holds the same plant in its hands (Entry 121b). 
As is sometimes the case when the water lily surges from the mouth, 
the stems of the Sayil plant pass outward to both sides in an elaborate 
panel. 

Not known to fit into a complex of this sort, a Flower Type N 
design emerges from the mouth of a serpent on Stela 1, Tikal (Entry 
124, fig. 37). The representation is noteworthy for its unusually 
early occurrence, probably at the very beginning of Baktun 9. 


MISCELLANEOUS ASSOCIATIONS 


A stem is frequently associated with the jaguar’s head. Front- 
ward growing, its source is hidden in the region at the back of the head 
or ears. Appearing on a jaguarlike being in the Temple of the Sun, 
Palenque, the stems, two in number, seem to spring forth from the 
region just back of the ears (Maudslay, 1889-1902, vol. 4, pl.88). The 
stems occasionally terminate in flowers, the shape of the stem being 
unchanged. The mammiform Type M flower occurs in this connec- 
tion (Entry 44, fig. 4c) The similarly placed flower on a vase from 
Chama (Entry 203, fig 5f) is virtually identical to a flower which ties 
a probable water lily leaf to a serpentine head on a Chajcar bowl 
(Entry 208, fig. 5¢). A jaguar depicted on a Yucatan bow! sits in a 
wreath of probable water lilies, and a flower may grow from its head or 
ear (Entries 219, 220, fig. 4d). Such features tend to associate the 
jaguar with the water lily. Spinden has pointed out the water-lily- 
like appearance of a flower in the Dresden Codex that grows from the 
jaguar’s head (Entry 309), and on the strength of this has postulated a 


a ain WATER LILY IN MAYA ART—RANDS 109 
further association of the jaguar with the fish and water-plant motif 
(Spinden, 1913, p. 77). 

A close correspondence has been pointed out previously between 
bowls from the Rio Hondo, British Honduras, and the Esperanza 
Period of Kaminaljuyu (Kidder, Jennings, and Shook, 1946, pl.226). 
Although the fish and water-plant motif occurs only on the former 
vase, and its Type Q flowers are replaced by Type N “leaves” on the 
Kaminaljuyu vessel, the mythic beings with which the vegetation is 
associated are strikingly similar (Entries 211, 214, figs. 4g, f). In each 
case, six projecting elements, feathers with crosshatched circles, rise 
from the Long-nosed God or Serpent X heads. The feathers are of 
the type that sometimes occurs in connection with the Serpent Bird 
and the Wing Panel (Maudslay, 1889-1902, vol. 1, pl. 99d, e¢,h). Their 
occurrence at the top of the head recalls the mask panel on Stela 4, 
Yaxchilan (Maler, 1903, pl. 70), a representation which in turn shows 
strong correspondences to the Serpent Bird (Tozzer and Allen, 1910, 
pp. 337ff, pl. 21). A complex which is conceptually linked to flowers 
and, by extension, to the water lily, seems once again to embody as- 
pects of the bird and Long-nosed God or serpentine forms. 

Several representations of the Serpent Bird with Wing Panel mark- 
ings show it wearing a distinctive type of bar pendant around its neck 
(Taylor, 1941, p. 52, fig. 8g). Designs from Palenque, Chama, 
Xcalumkin, and in the Perez Codex are especially to be compared 
(Maudslay, 1889-1902, vol. 4, pl. 81; Proskouriakoff, 1950, fig. 95c; 
Dieseldorff, 1926-33, vol. 2, p. 29, pl. 32b; Perez 126). The pendant 
recurs at the necks of probable vultures in a panel of water lilies at 
Chichen Itza (Entry 26, fig. 1d; Tozzer and Allen, 1910, p. 332, pl. 19, 
fig. 14). It appears again at the neck of a similar bird, pictured on a 
Rio Hondo vase, resting on a possible water-lily plant (Entry 215). 
Serpent-Bird-like beings occur in full-figure glyphs on Stela D and 
Zoomorph B, Quirigua, sometimes with the bar pendant and some- 
times with vulture aspects (Maudslay, 1889-1902, vol. 2, pls. 14, 15, 
25, 26; Spinden, 1913, pp. 80-81). 

Flowerlike forms, which may well be water lilies, occasionally ap- 
pear at the corners of shields or shieldlike medallions. Such flowers 
are tabulated, but the frequent placement of probable balls of feather- 
work at the corners of shields proves a source of confusion (cf. Maler, 
1901, pl. 17; 1903, pl. 74, No. 2). Flowers or feathers at the four 
corners of the jaguar-head shield in the Temple of the Sun, Palenque, 
form perfect Palenque-type water lilies except for absence of sepals 
(Entry 81d). Medallions at Palenque, Quirigua, and El Chicozapote 
may possibly be compared (Entries 81c, 108c, 116, 59a). Floral forms 
also appear at the corners of ‘‘eclipse shields” on pages 56 and perhaps 
52 of the Dresden Codex. 


110 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 151 


Stylized flowers occasionally appear on loincloth aprons as the 
central element in Proskouriakoff’s leaf-and-fringe motif (Proskouria- 
koff, 1950, pp. 38, 97; Entries 59b, 67a, 103a, 122a). It is of interest, 
therefore, that more realistically treated flowers hang from stems in a 
corresponding position (Entries 217d, 312b). 

A possible association of significance exists between the water lily 
and the ball game. Water lily designs occur prominently on the 
benches of the Great Ball Court at Chichen Itza, a single motif, of 
flowering stalks growing from the decapitated neck of a ball-game 
player, being repeated six times (Entry 35). Water lilies are 
prominently depicted elesewhere in the Ball Court complex—in the 
South Temple, the Temple of the Tigers, and the Lower Chamber of 
the Tigers. Floral forms are, however, of heavy occurrence elsewhere 
in the representative art of Chichen Itza. Although ball-court 
markers at Chinkultic and Copan also display floral representations, 
many others are lacking in them. While these occurrences are of 
considerable interest, it seems best, in view of the inconclusive data, 
not to press the matter too far. 


GLYPHIC ASSOCIATIONS OF PROBABLE WATER LILIES 


Several of the representations referred to in the preceding section 
are hieroglyphs. It is apparent, therefore, that nonglyphic portrayals 
which share a given complex with glyphs bear upon the problem of 
the glyphs and are, in turn, to be understood in terms of them. 

The occurrence of Long-nosed God heads connected by stems to 
bird forms is of particular interest in this regard (Entries 50, 104, 108, 
109). Stela D, Quirigua, is one ot the rare monuments having full- 
figure inscriptions (fig. 2a). Here the long-nosed being is the head- 
variant of the number 13, and the grotesque bird, with a fleshless lower 
jawbone, is the full-figure variant of the tun sign (Morley, 1915, 
fig. 526’). The inverted long-nosed heads on Stelae A and C, Qui- 
rigua, which dangle from possible water lily stems, have the down- 
curved, beaklike noses of the bird forms in the hieroglyphs (Entries 
108, 109). Their heads are marked with tau signs, which appear 
prominently in connection with a probable water lily panel at Palenque 
(Entry 71), and are feathered (cf. Entries 211, 214). On Stela B, 
Copan, the dangling Long-nosed God heads may also have a connec- 
tion with time periods of the sort dealt with on Stela D at Quirigua 
(Entry 50, fig. 26). 

The head variant of the number 13 recurs, in connection with the 
water lily, at Palenque (Morley, 1915, fig. 522,y; Entry 69, fig. 4a). 
The leaf is tied to the Long-nosed God’s forehead by a sash, and 
floral forms rise from the leaf or head. 


ola yaaa WATER LILY IN MAYA ART—RANDS 111 


Flowers, apparent variants of the Type E water lilies at Copan, 
are tied to the heads of several beings in the full-figure glyphs of Stela 
D and Zoomorph B, Quirigua. Toads, as the uinal variants, wear 
such headdresses on Stela D (Entry 105) and Zoomorph B (Entry 112). 
In other glyphs, of unknown significance, beings wear similar flowers 
(Zoomorph B, Entries 113, 114). A possible flower is placed at the 
forehead of a head variant of the number zero (Stela D, Entry 106). 

A flower-bearing stem issuing from its head or ear, the jaguar occurs 
at Copan in glyphs of unknown meaning (Entries 44, 49, fig. 4c). 
Jaguar glyphs at Yaxchilan may depict flowers in top view, near 
although not connected to the head; featherwork may, instead, be 
intended (Maudslay, 1889-1902, vol. 2, pls. 88, Nos. 6, 7; 89, Glyph 
M2). More closely corresponding to the jaguar of figure 4c is the same 
animal in the variable element in the Introducing Gylph, as patron of 
the month Pop. Beyer, while regarding the tusk as the most charac- 
teristic detail of the jaguar as a month indicator, notes the presence of 
“flourishes”’ adorning its head (Beyer, 1931, p. 100). These flourishes 
are, in some instances without any doubt, the same stem form that 
occurs in nonglyphic art. 

The variable element in the Introducing Glyph for the month Pax 
may be ‘‘a symbol of vegetation,’ which replaces the lower jaw of a 
solar deity (Beyer, 1931, pp. 106, 108). On Zoomorph B, Quirigua, 
it occurs in this way, given the appearance of emerging from the 
mouth (Entry 111, fig. 6a). A similar design occurs in Glyph 11, 
passing from the mouth of the probable head variant for number 8. 
This glyph records the date 8 Pax, and it would appear that redupli- 
cation occurred, the characteristics of the month Pax being given to 
the full-figure variant of the accompanying numeral (cf. Morley, 
1937-38, vol. 4, pp. 167-168). 

A double row of Type H flowers occurs in association with a kan 
(yellow) sign, comprising a glyph in the Temple of the Foliated Cross, 
Palenque (Entry 91, fig. 4b). 

The occurrence in glyphs of vegetation forms, which have the 
associations that characterize probable water lilies in Maya art, ap- 
pears to be especially strong at Copan, Quirigua, and Palenque. The 
present compilation of floral motifs in the glyphs lays no claim to 
completeness, however. Furthermore, much of the emphasis on 
flowers in glyphs at Quirigua results from repeated occurrences of 
the motif on two monuments bearing full-figure inscriptions, Stela D 
and Zoomorph B. Other examples of the rare full-figure glyphs are 
not so dominated by floral motifs.” Perhaps, for some fortuitous rea- 
son, it became the vogue to depict the water lily extensively on these 


’ The fish and water-plant motif does occur in the sculptured scene accompanying the full-figure glyphs 
at Palenque (Entry 8le). 


Li? BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLL. 151 


Quirigua monuments, and in applying this favored motif regard was 
not given to the inherent symbolism most appropriate to the specific 
time units, numbers, or deities involved. That this explanation can- 
not hold for all the glyphic floral representations on these monuments, 
particularly on Stela D, is indicated by certain important corre- 
spondences to motifs elsewhere in Maya art. Nor is a brief held for 
this explanation of the other floral occurrences. 

Thompson, in his recent work on Maya hieroglyphic writing, has 
independently noted the association of certain deities with water lily 
flowers. Designated by him are the old god of the number 5 (Thomp- 
son, 1950, p. 133; Entry 12 in the present paper); the rain and storm 
god of number 6 (Thompson, 1950, p. 134; Entry 78); the death god 
as lord of number 10 (Thompson, 1950, p. 279; cf. Entry 55); the 
Long-nosed God of number 13 (Thompson, 1950, p. 136; Entries 69, 
104) ; the jaguarlike patron of the month Pax (Thompson, 1950, p. 115; 
Entry 111); and the crocodilelike Imix earth monster (Thompson, 
1950, p. 72; perhaps various of the ‘‘Long-nosed” or “Serpent X” 
heads in the entries, e. g., Entry 78). The suggestion is also made 
that the comb form of the ‘‘count”’ affix, which is usually designated 
as a fish fin, may possibly be the stylization of a water lily flower 
(Thompson, 1950, pp. 44-45). Such an interpretation is consistent 
artistically with many representations of the water lily and, in fact, 
had occurred to the present writer. Representations such as those in 
Entries 134a, 147 should especially be compared. 

Thompson further regards the normal or symbolic form of the day 
sign Imix as derived from a water-lily flower (1950, p. 72, fig. 6). 
Characteristic of Imix, in fact, are markings corresponding to Flower 
Elements a or d, k, m, and n (“petal’’ lines, dots toward base of flower, 
crosshachure toward base, semicircular line or color difference toward 
base). Of these elements, k (a semicircular row of dots toward the 
flower’s base) is especially characteristic of Palenque and Chichen 
Itza, being unknown in the ideal form in which it occurs in the hi- 
eroglyphs in floral representations from other sites. Combined with 
Elements m or n (crosshachured or uncrosshatched basal semicircle), 
Element & forms a configuration known in floral forms only from 
Palenque and Chichen Itza (although cf. Entry 222). Yet if Imix is 
derived from the water lily, it is surprising that the same type of 
treatment is not more characteristic of representations of this flower 
in the Maya area as a whole. HU, as seems probable, many of the 
floral forms lacking these features are correctly identified as water 
lilies, it would appear either that Thompson’s derivation is incorrect 
or that for some reason Palenque and Chichen Itza alone maintained 
these important features of the tradition of depicting the water lily 
which was in vogue when the appearance of the day signs, or at 


oe WATER LILY IN MAYA ART—RANDS 113 


least of the day sign Imix, was worked out. Could the portrayal of 
the water lily flower at these two sites have undergone, perhaps inde- 
pendently, an anachronism which based the depiction of the flower on 
the glyph Imix and thereby enabled the artists to duplicate the flower 
as it was represented in much earlier times? Or could some other 
media, such as the codices, have continued to portray the water lily 
in the old Imix manner concurrently with the varied changes taking 
place in the floral art of the sculptures during Classic times? If the 
Dresden Codex, with its wealth of Group II flowers, can be regarded 
as representative of the codices, this last explanation would appear to 
rest on very shaky foundations. 


AREAL AND CHRONOLOGICAL TRENDS 


OVER-ALL TYPE 


Site-by-site occurrences of the various symbolic associations are 
presented in table 5, together with totals of the Over-all Types. 
Numerals refer to the total number of representations. The types 
designate the combinations of flower, leaf, stem, and root that occur 
in each representation. The most distinctive of these types have 
been previously discussed (IIc, e) ; the others require little explanations 


Types or Maya TREATMENT OF THE COMBINED FLOWER, STEM, LeEar, 
AND Root 


Type Ia. The flower only is depicted. Because of the absence of other features, 
this type is most apt to be confused with balls of featherwork. 

Type Ib. A flower occurs on a relatively simple stem. If the stem is very short 
but nevertheless observable, a questioned occurrence is tabulated. 

Type Ila. A flower occurs in connection with a complex stem. 

Type IIb. A flower occurs on the same stem as a leaf or leaves. 

Type IIc. A leaf is attached to the forehead by means of a knotted flower. 

Type Ild. A flower occurs in connection with a distinctively marked rhizome 

’ and stem. 

Type Ile. A flower occurs at the tip of a vestigial stem, which is little differentiated 
from the tuberous rhizome. 

Type Ilf. Flower, leaf, rhizome, and stem occur together. 

Type II-?. A complex stem occurs, but its associations are not clear. 

Type IIIa. A simple stem appears, unaccompanied by other parts of the plant. 
It is particularly associated with the jaguar’s head. 

Type IIIb. A complex stem occurs, unaccompanied by other parts of the plant. 

Type IV. The leaf only occurs. 


Type Ib, a flower attached to a relatively simple stem, is of greatest 
occurrence in Maya art. Probable flowers which lack stems are of 
next strongest occurrence (Type Ia), followed by flowers attached to 
complex stems (Type IIa). Of notably weak occurrence are the 
combinations of flower, rhizome, and stem (IId, e), flower, leaf, 
rhizome, and stem (IIf), and isolated leaves (IV). Palenque, whose 


114 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLL. 151 


wide variation in this respect compares to the near universality of 
flower types and elements at Chichen Itza, has the only known designs 
that bring together flower, stem, leaf, and rhizome in a single represen- 
tation (fig. 1b,c). It may share the occurrence of a leaf, without other 
associations, with Quirigua only. Chichen Itza stands out in the 
emphasis given the complex stem (Types Ila, II-—?). 

Table 6 gives the occurrences of Over-all Types and symbolic 
associations in time. For the monuments, the break-down, when 
possible, is according to the 20-year katun periods. Table 6 differs 
from the others in that its numerical entries refer not to the total num- 
ber of representations but to the total number of monuments (e. g., 
stelae or structures, on which the representations occur. Utilized in 
conjunction with the other tables, table 6 gives a better perspective 
of the total activity put into floral representation.’ 

The earliest of the Over-all Types, as revealed in table 6, is the 
flower attached to a simple stem (Type Ib). The type is of steady 
occurrence without significant chronological change. The earliest 
recorded occurrence of the complex stem is a variant Type Ile repre- 
sentation on Stela 2, Copan (9.10.15.0.0?) (Entry 45). This distinc- 
tive type, while of limited distribution, seems to possess a fairly long 
time range. Type IIc (a leaf tied to the forehead by a flower), of 
possible ocurrence in earlier times at Palenque, is first definitely 
recorded in 9.15.0.0.0. The complex stem, unaccompanied by other 
forms of vegetation, seems first to appear in Katun 12 (Type IIIb). 
The vestigial stem at the head of a jaguar or similar being extends 
back from the time of the latest classic stelae, erected in 10.3.0.0.0, 
to 9.4.0.0.0 (Type IIIa). 


MYTHIC ASSOCIATIONS 


Certain sites stand out significantly in the occurrence of one or two 
symbolic associations. The flower-eating fish and presence of plants 
in the human headdress are of marked occurrence at Bonampak. 
Most of the associations are present at Chichen Itza, but of especial 
strength at the site is the presence of human figures amidst the plant. 
As many of the associations appear at Copan as at Chichen Itza. 
Human and nonhuman headdresses at Copan are frequently connected 


8 “Monument” as used in the tables has a special meaning. A stela equals a monument. But all the 
sculptured or painted portions of a single building—lintels, wall panels, walls, columns, and so on—total 
only asingle monument. The purpose of this terminology is to arrive as nearly as possible at the generalized 
unit dealt with by the artist in depicting the water lily, regardless of the size or complexity of the plant 
or plants involved. If this were not done, a building rich in depictions of the plant would receive undue 
weighting in comparative studies. ‘‘Representation” also has a special meaning in the tables. It may 
roughly be said to be the equivalent of a plant stalk, i. e., of a distinct plant. But if distinct though closely 
corresponding stalks emerge from the two corners of a mouth, only a single occurrence is tabulated. To 
exemplify further, if two identical stalks are in a single headdress, only one occurrence is noted, but if they 
are distinctly treated two representations are tabulated. The purpose of this manipulation is to arrive as 
nearly as possible at the specific wnit involved, regardless of the complexity of that unit. 


ly laa WATER LILY IN MAYA ART—RANDS 115 


with the floral forms, and the flower-eating fish is of important occur- 
rence. A greater number of associations are present at Palenque 
than at either Copan or Chichen Jtza. Flowers appear especially in 
human headdresses, and the growth of plants from the heads of mythic 
beings is marked. The greatest number of associations of any Maya 
site occurs at Quirigua. No one trait stands out; the cosmopolitan 
quality observed in connection with the Flower Elements (table 4) is 
repeated. Xultun emphasizes the jaguar. Perhaps the most striking 
emphasis of a particular trait is found at Yaxchilan, where the Wing 
Panel appears with great frequency, in contrast to its virtual lack of 
association with the flower elsewhere. Partly for this reason, the 
human headdress, in which the Wing Panel occurs, is of correspond- 
ingly high association with the flower. The human headdress and 
growth of the flower from the head tend to be emphasized in the Alta 
Verapaz ceramics. The Dresden Codex emphasizes the Long-nosed 
God’s hand in connection with flowers. 

Traits of scant distribution serve occasionally to couple certain 
sites together. Stems emerge from the eyes at Chichen Itza, Sayil, 
Yaxchilan, and Copan. Animals amidst the plant, not tabulated 
separately, appear at Chichen Itza and Yaxchilan. Heads are 
connected by stems at Copan and Quirigua. The nose as the 
source of growth or attachment of vegetation occurs at Tulum and 
Santa Rosa Xtampak and, under quite different circumstances, at 
Piedras Negras, and perhaps other sites. On the monuments, human 
figures occur amidst the plant only at Chichen Itza, Copan, Palenque, 
and Quirigua. Full-figure portrayals of Long-nosed God forms in 
connection with flowers are known in the sculptures only at Palenque 
and Quirigua. 

The associations of the plant forms, some of a highly arbitrary 
nature, are given according to period in table 6. The earliest known 
occurrences are from Stela 1 at Tikal (Entry 124, fig. 37). Morley 
dates the monument, on stylistic grounds, from “very early in Baktun 
9, perhaps as early as 9.1.0.0.0” (Morley, 1937-38, vol. 1, p. 297). 
On the basis of her stylistic analysis, Miss Proskouriakoff accepts a 
dating from this early period (1950, pp. 106, 195). Associations with 
death symbols and with a serpent head occur; the emergence of 
vegetation from the mouth is clear. 

Thereafter, floral forms which pass from the mouth have a fairly 
steady representation in the sculptures. Rather sylized forms which 
seem to have valid connections with the flower occur at Copan in 
Katuns 10, 12, and 15, emerging from Wing Panel, Tlaloc, and 
serpent mouths, respectively. The Wing Panel was later to become 
a dominant motif at Yaxchilan, perhaps around 9.16.0.0.0. Toward 
the close of the Classic sequence, at Xultun, probable flowers pass 


116 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Buny. 151 


from the mouths of jaguars. At Chichen Itza, in Toltec times, comes 
a peculiar recurrence of the considerably earlier Palenque-Piedras 
Negras motif of stems passing horizontally from the corners of the 
mouth (Entries 24, 72, 95). 

Jaguars, or jaguarlike beings, appear early as favored subjects for 
vegetal associations. Usually a flowerless stem is shown in connec- 
tion with the back part of the head. The earliest known occurrence 
of this motif would appear to be in 9.4.0.0.0, at Yaxchilan. Two 
katuns later, however, a mammiform and sepalless Type M flower is 
added to the stem; this is the earliest recorded occurrence of the flower 
with a glyph (Entry 44, Copan). The jaguar has added associations 
with the flower in later times, such as hands (9.17.0.0.0, Quirigua) and 
mouth (10.1.0.0.0, Xultun). <A flower of suggestively Type E appear- 
ance also emerges from a jaguar mouth on Stela 19, Xultun (Entry 
136). Morley, while assigning this monument to “the first quarter 
of Baktun 9,” grants that it may have been erected “‘sometime prior 
to 9.12.0.0.0” (Morley, 1937-38, vol. 1, p. 392). It is considered later 
by Proskouriakoff, who, however, assigns it simply to her Late Classic, 
after 9.8.0.0.0 (Proskouriakoff, 1950, pp. 114-115). The date is of 
considerable interest, in view of the similarity in treatment of the 
flower to that at Copan, where similar types appear only in Katun 16, 
as well as for the possibly early association of the flower with the 
jaguar’s mouth. 

Other distinctive associations of the flower tend to come in later. 
Chronological uncertainties at Yaxchilan and Palenque, in particular, 
obscure the order and time of appearance of these motifs. In general, 
the century following the inauguration of Katun 12 saw the floral 
motif, as depicted in the sculptures, transformed from a fairly simple 
and standardized to a richly elaborated complex. Perhaps Katun 15 
was the time of greatest accretion of new associations. The extent to 
which the sculptures reflect the situation in other artistic media is, 
however, a matter of conjecture. The century of elaboration from 
Katuns 12 to 17 saw a great increase in the number of sculptured 
monuments erected in the Maya area. This provided a greater oppor- 
tunity for floral forms to be depicted and, thereby, affords a more 
reliable range from which to draw conclusions. The peak of a curve 
showing the incidence of floral motifs would correspond generally to 
that for the total number of sculptured monuments in Classic Maya 
art. (Cf. Proskouriakoff, 1950, fig. 3a, and Morley, 1937-38, vol. 4, 
figs. 148, 149.) If the varied examples at Palenque are correctly at- 
tributable to a fairly early period, the peak of the curve for the floral 
motifs would, in fact, slightly precede that for the total number of 
comparable monuments. In terms of the total number of represen- 


NE WATER LILY IN MAYA ART—RANDS 117 


tations, however, a second peak would occur in post-Classic times, 
due to the great popularity of flowers at Chichen Itza. 

A growth in popularity in late times, whatever the initial appear- 
ance, is indicated for certain motifs. Following such a pattern are 
the frequently associated traits of figures seated amidst plants and 
holding them in their hands or arms. It may also hold true for the 
eyes, nose, and perhaps ear and neck as anatomical sources, at least 
as opposed to the mouth and head. Serpent Head X, per se, comes 
into association with vegetation fairly late in the sculptures, mostly 
after 9.15.0.0.0; yet it is considerably earlier, vegetation at its head, 
in Esperanza Period pottery at Kaminaljuyu (Entries 211, 212, fig. 
49). 

The flower-eating fish of the well-known fish and water-plant 
motif is first definitely dated in 9.15.0.0.0, at Calakmul (Entry 15). 
Earlier occurrences seem probable at Palenque, however, where they 
are with the petalless and sepalless Type M flower characteristic of 
earlier times (fig. 6f, perhaps dating from Katun 14). At Copan, the 
appearance of the fish ushers in a new, petaled form, Type E (Entries 
53, 54; 9.16.10.0.0). The Copan data might suggest the simultaneous 
arrival of a new concept and art form, perhaps the water lily per se 
as opposed to other flowers or leaves. The Palenque data, on the 
other hand, would indicate that an association with fish was not inap- 
plicable to the earlier art form. Of course, nothing more than the 
survival of an old form into a new conceptual setting may be indicated. 

In any event, there exists a continuity of tradition which is sizable, 
regardless of the rather rapid addition, for about a century, of new 
motifs in the floral art of the sculptures. Whether or not the concept 
of the water lily was intended throughout, conceptual as well as 
artistic ties form a widely ramifying complex, some threads of which 
can be traced back for a full baktun or more. 


RESEMBLANCES TO THE LOTUS IN INDIAN ART 


This is not the place to go deeply into the complex and highly 
controversial matter of possible Asiatic affiliations. The water lily, of 
course, represents but a single basic trait, whatever its elaborations. 
It should be pointed out, however, that both the water lily of the Maya 
area (Nymphaea ampla) and the Hindu lotus (Nelumbo sp.) are 
members of a single family, the Nymphaeaceae (Conard, 1905; Roys, 
1931). The stalks of both rise prominently above the water. This 
being the case, a certain degree of resemblance in the depictions of the 
two related plants might well be expected. 

A number of conventionalizations strikingly similar to Maya 
floral forms must be admitted to exist in Southeastern Asiatic depic- 
tions of the lotus. In the Maya area, the correspondences seem to 


118 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY {BULL. 151 


occur most notably at Chichen Itza, as Heine-Geldern and Ekholm 
have pointed out. But they are also marked at Palenque. The 
portrayal of the water lily as an undulating creeper, the occurrence of 
reclining human figures holding on to the stalk, and the surging of the 
stalk from the mouths of monsters are correspondences specifically 
mentioned by these writers. 

Other random resemblances in the depiction of the water lily may be 
mentioned. The Type C flower which occurs at Chichen Itza, 
Palenque, and Chinkultic (figs. 5a, 1¢) is closely paralleled in certain 
representations of the lotus (Coomaraswamy, 1931, pl. 28, No.1). In 
Indian art, petals jut out to give the flower a slightly mammiform 
design of the type encountered at Chichen Itza (fig. 64; Coomaraswamy, 
1931, pl. 39, No.1). Again, a slightly mammiform quality is suggested 
by outlines, either exterior or within the flower (cf. fig. 4¢ and Cooma- 
raswamy, 1931, pl. 41, No.4). Multiple scrolls at the flower’s base in 
Indian art correspond to the Flower Element ¢ at Chichen Itza (fig. 1d) 
and to turned-back sepals at Quirigua (fig. 2a; cf. Coomaraswamy, 
1931, pl. 28, No.2). Basal zoning by a semicircle of short, parallel lines 
corresponds to Flower Element J, in the Maya area known only at 
Chichen Itza (cf. figs. 1a, 6h). As a frequent motif in India, a string 
of pearls hangs down from the flowe-, comparing in a sense to similar 
placement of feathers at Chichen Itza (cf. Coomaraswamy, 1931, 
pl. 28, No. 2, and Flower Element 2, fig. 1d). 

As pointed out by Heine-Geldern and Ekholm, the water lily panels 
at Chichen Itza closely resemble those of Southeastern Asia. The 
Indian panels are predominantly like Panel Type A of the present 
paper. Angular and cursive varieties occur, corresponding to the 
variations in Maya panels (fig. 1b-d; cf. fig. la and Coomaraswamy, 
1931, pls. 13, No. 1; 39, No. 1). A water-lily wreath on a bowl from 
Yucatan (fig. 4d) compares with the knotted stem in Indian panel art 
(Coomaraswamy, 1931, pl. 38, No. 3). 

Most closely corresponding of the flowers, perhaps, are those from 
Chichen Itza and Amaravati shown in figures 3e and la. In addition 
to certain of the features already discussed, the flowers in question 
have a crosshatched inner zone (Flower Element m) and stamen dots 
(Element k) which are virtually identical. In addition, the Indian 
example has dots within its crosshachure, corresponding thereby to 
Element c of the Maya water lily leaf (cf. fig. 10). 

On the other hand, the leaves of the lotus in Indian art appear to 
differ widely from water lily leaves in Maya art (fig. la-c). Consider- 
ing the great importance attached to the leaf, this presents a dissimilar- 
ity difficult to explain away. 

The panel forms at Chichen Itza and Palenque offer the greatest 
similarities to the Hindu lotus within the Maya area. Other Maya 


ANTHROP. Pap. 
No. 34] WATER LILY IN MAYA ART—RANDS 119 


sites contemporaneous with Chichen Itza or Palenque differ more 
widely from the Indian material. The Type A panel, for example, 
seems lacking elsewhere. Conceivably, this may be partially corre- 
lated with the unusually great use of representative design in connec- 
tion with architecture at these two sites, instead of on stelae, as was 
characteristic elsewhere. But earlier Maya sites lacked not merely 
the panel; Group I flowers tended to be absent, their place being taken 
by Group IV designs. Lacking petals, sepals, and interior mark- 
ings, these earlier forms contrast sharply with the wealth of petals 
depicted ia the Indian lotus and differ, likewise, from the later Maya 
representations. 

Maya associations of the water lily having correspondences in In- 
dian art appear to be quite numerous. The stem emerges from the 
mouth (cf. Entry 124, fig. 37, and Coomaraswamy, 1931, pls. 37, 38). 
The stalk is held in the hands (cf. Entry 25, fig. 1d, and Coomara- 
swamy, 1931, pl. 30). Reclining human figures are placed amidst the 
plant (cf. Entry 25, fig. 1d, and Coomaraswamy, 1931, pl. 37, No. 2). 
The stem grows from or is attached to the nose (cf. Entry 129, fig. 36, 
and Coomaraswamy, 1931, pl. 38, No. 3). The emergence of the stem 
from the mouth compares further in that full-face designs frequeatly 
show the stem to be passing outward horizontally from the corners 
of the mouth (Entries 24, 72, 95, 99; cf. Coomaraswamy, 1931, pl. 30, 
No. 2). Another parallel trait, rare if not unique in Maya art, finds 
the stem which emerges from the mouth being held in the hands of 
the creature from which it issued (cf. Entry 308 and Coomaraswamy, 
1931, pls. 34, 35). And Entry 121b, in which a stem passes horizontally 
in front view from the eyes into the hands of the same being, offers 
a related type of comparison. Other anatomical sources may or 
may not be shared. 

From the standpoints of style and symbolic presentation, Chichen 
Itza and to a lesser extent Palenque show the greatest resemblances 
to Indian depictions of the lotus. But these correspondences do not 
have the appearance of a superficial, newly introduced overlay. As 
indicated by its complex connections with the Long-nosed God, the 
Serpent Bird, and glyphs, the water lily was deeply rooted in basic 
Maya symbolism by at least the Maya Middle Period. If Thompson 
is correct in suggesting that the water lily was the prototype for the 
day sign Imix and perhaps for the comblike ‘‘count”’ affix in the 
Introducing and other glyphs, one must postulate a long and impor- 
tant role for this flower. For perhaps the most striking of the mythic 
associations, the emergence of a plant from the mouth, it can be 
shown that the concept existed very early in Baktun 9, probably a 
full half-millenium before the representations at Chichen Itza. 


909871—53——_9 


120 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY (BULL. 151 


SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 


In the preceding pages, a mass of material has been examined in 
an effort to gain a better picture of the role of the water lily in Maya 
art. Three broad fields have been partially investigated. ‘These deal 
with Maya religious symbolism, intersite connections, and possible 
trans-Pacific importation of the art form into the Maya area. 

The most conclusive results have been reached in the field of reli- 
gious symbolism, where the water lily forms part of a complex with 
the Long-nosed God and beings perhaps related to the Serpent Bird. 
The water lily emerges from the mouth and eye and grows from the 
head, ear, nose, and neck of mythic beings that, for the most part, 
seem to be the Serpent Bird and Long-nosed God. Less frequently, 
possible water lilies grow from the head or from behind the ear of the 
jaguar. Long-nosed Gods, birds, and jaguars sometimes appear in 
glyphs with the same floral associations that characterize them in 
nonglyphic representations. ‘The Long-nosed God, as the head vari- 
ant form for the number 13, appears on occasion, at least, to have 
exceptionally close relationships with the water lily. Patrons of the 
months Pop and Pax also seem to have floral associations. For an 
interpretative study of the water lily in Maya religious symbolism, 
the reader is referred to Thompson’s recent work on Maya hiero- 
glyphic writing (1950). 

Suggestive material emerges which bears on the problems of intersite 
relationships within the Maya area, but it is difficult to evaluate. 
Detailed studies of many additional art forms, analyzed in the per- 
spective offered by a more complete ceramic knowledge of interregional 
relationships, are needed. What, for instance, is the significance of 
the very closely corresponding Yaxchilan and Chichen Itza repre- 
sentations shown in figures 2d and 2f? These sites are areally and 
temporally remote, yet nothing that corresponds very closely is known 
elsewhere in the Maya area. One has the feeling of a vast storehouse 
of religious and artistic conceptions into which the Maya stelae 
sculptors only occasionally and sporadically dipped. To the extent 
that this is so, correspondences that seem to require specifically his- 
torical explanations may turn out to have been blind alleys. 

Some indications may, nevertheless, point to connections between 
Yucatan and the Usumacinta Basin that are of a more direct and 
fundamental nature than, for example, those between Yucatan and 
the Peten. The Chichen Itza and Yaxchilan representations just 
cited are a case in point (Entries 22, 152, fig. 2d, f). As repeatedly 
brought out, the correspondences between floral representations at 
Chichen Itza and Palenque are exceptionally close. Chinkultic, 
again in the western portion of the Maya area, displays a notable 
resemblance to certain flowers at Chichen Itza. It may be of inter- 


ary eel WATER LILY IN MAYA ART—RANDS 121 


est in this general connection that Proskouriakoff and Thompson 
have pointed out specific artistic and calendric traits that rather 
strikingly serve to link the Middle Usumacinta with the Puuc region 
in northern Yucatan (Proskouriakoff and Thompson, 1947; Pro- 
skouriakoff, 1950). 

The major sites differ interestingly in their portrayal of the water 
lily. There are indications that Palenque may have been a site of 
unusual importance in working out certain basic artistic elaborations 
of this plant. Its tenuous dating, consequently, leaves an important 
gap in our knowledge of the development of the water lily motif. 
Chichen Itza was the site where the water lily received its fullest, or 
at least most extensive, treatment. It may be permissible to charac- 
terize Quirigua as a site which drew heavily from several sources in its 
portrayal of the water lily. Perhaps as a result, its treatment never 
became as distinctive as, for example, that of Copan or Palenque. 
But it was cosmopolitan, depicting a wide range of artistic and sym- 
bolic forms. Copan and Chichen Itza, more than the other sites, 
present a picture of chronological change. At first the jaguar and a 
simple, mammiform type of flower were combined to make a favorite 
subject at Copan; abruptly emphasis seems to have shifted to a dis- 
tinctive, asymmetrical flower in repeated association with fish. At 
Chichen Itza, in Puuc times, a somewhat similar mammiform flower 
occurred in connection with mask panels on architecture. With the 
coming of representational sculpture in the Mexican Period, the 
flower, in its depiction and associations, took on strong aspects of the 
water lily in the Great Period art of the Central region, particularly 
that of the western portions of this area. 

The suggestion of an Asiatic origin of the water-lily motif seems 
to receive a certain support because of the striking artistic and 
associational resemblances to the lotus in Hindu and Buddhist art. 
It is difficult, however, to reconcile such an origin with the chrono- 
logical trends in the development of the Maya water-lily motif. 
Its earliest examples are the least Indianlike, the late examples of 
Chichen Itza being most like the Indian lotus. The elaborated 
Chichen treatment of the water lily could not have moved in as a 
full-blown complex from outside the Maya area, for it is too deeply 
rooted in earlier artistic and symbolic conventionalizations. This 
would also appear to be true of the only somewhat less Hindulike 
water lily of Palenque. To explain the elaborated water lily as of 
Asiatic derivation, it would appear necessary to postulate a complex 
series of waves of fundamental influence which accounted for new 
traits on various time levels. This seems, in fact, to be the position 
taken by Heine-Geldern and Ekholm. No middle course, which 
might admit the possibility of a superficial artistic overlay but nothing 


122 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Buty. 151 


more, seems possible. At the same time, the water lily seems as 
basically Mayan as do perhaps most other elements of the culture. 

Whatever the actual historical events might have been, several 
points of theoretical interest suggest reasons why considerable simi- 
larity might be expected between the water lily in the art of the 
Maya and the lotus as depicted in India. The plants are virtually 
identical in appearance. They are, furthermore, among the larger 
and more showy flowers, tending to dominate their quiet-water 
botanical assemblages. A great deal of elaboration, in accordance 
with the canons of the art treating them, might, therefore, seem a 
matter of probability. Although the panel designs are especially 
similar in Maya and Indian floral art, they represent elaborations of 
basically simple geometric forms. The arts of India and of the Maya 
tended toward a cursive style. They were, in addition, highly sym- 
bolic. The theocratic domination of the arts may, independently, 
have been a spur to the creation of highly unrealistic situations, 
wherein old elements within the culture were recombined in accord- 
ance with an ever-evolving speculative philosophy. From a different 
point of view, Spinden discusses aspects of this process under the 
terms ‘‘elaboration,”’ ‘‘elimination,’”’ and, especially, ‘‘substitution”’ 
(Spinden, 1913, pp. 38, 41-46). The highly arbitrary situations thus 
appearing in the art would seem, in turn, to modify the details of 
further religio-philosophic speculations. If such a functional relation- 
ship existed within the theocracies of the Old and New Worlds, the 
independent creation of a few of the same arbitrary associations 
would not seem so strange, after all. The ‘laws of chance” would take 
on different connotations than have generally been given them. 
Whether these varied considerations were actually operative, and if 
so their importance, is of course unknown. But it seems unwise to 
ignore them in seeking explanations for the truly remarkable parallels 
that must be admitted to occur. 


NOTES ON THE TABLES 


In table 1, presences are indicated by ‘‘X”’, absences or probable 
absences by __--, possible or deviant occurrences by ‘‘?”, and the 
presence of associated traits which do not appear in direct connec- 
tion with the vegetal form by ‘0’. The listing of the associated 
traits is incomplete, only those cases being given which appear to 
have a possible conceptual bearing. Absences are recorded when 
such factors as erosion prevents knowledge of a trait’s occurrence, 
except when closely comparable material at the same site suggests 
that the trait is present. 


nip WATER LILY IN MAYA ART—RANDS 123 


In summation (tables 2-6), the incidence of positive occurrences 
is given under the heading “‘(X)”’ and of possible occurrences under 
the heading ‘‘(?).”’ Associated traits are not totaled. 

In tables 1 and 3, flowers which do not conform to one of the 18 
recognized types are also designated ‘‘?’’. 

Forms which seem to warrant listing under different categories are 
placed doubtfully under all the categories in question. To indicate 
this multiple tabulation, parentheses enclose the alternative readings. 
Partly for this reason, the total number of questionable occurrences 
may be very great. The heaviness of the uncertain occurrences of 
head and ear as anatomical sources, for example, is due to the fact 
that the growth of stems near the jaguar’s head is listed doubtfully 
under both head and ear instead of positively under only one of them. 
Likewise, doubt occasionally exists whether a floral form grows from 
the head of a deity or is worn as a ‘nonhuman headdress.” 

Deviant traits, furthermore, probably include forms which bear 
no conceptual relationship to the trait complex under consideration. 
Thus, the high incidence of doubtfully recorded floral forms emerging 
from the mouth at Chichen Itza refers to speech scroll-like designs and, 
therefore, may presumably be ignored for the purposes of the present 
paper. Similarly, the large number of doubtful occurrences of the 
hands relates to the holding of paraphernalia that includes a floral 
form without, however, the flower coming into direct contact with 
the hands. This is a far cry from the scene shown in figure 1d, 
although a number of intermediate representations are known. 

Deviant occurrences in the artistic elements and types give totals 
which appear to be of more significance. This is because the forms, 
while often divergent, nevertheless tend to vary around certain 
central tendencies. The ‘‘either-or’’ quality is, therefore, less than 
in the case of the symbolic associations, except in the tabulation of 
either two or three sepals (Flower Elements 6, c, and, in functional 
relationship, h). 

Table 1 gives the raw data upon which subsequent tables are based. 
“FR” and “P,”’ under the entry ‘Mask panel,” indicates whether the 
mask is in full face or profile. The date for each monument is given 
according to the katun in which it falls. Sites are arranged alpha- 
betically and the monuments within a site, when possible, chrono- 
logically. Dates are based on Morley (1937-38) and, when indicated 
by an asterisk, Proskouriakoff (1950). Entry numbers 1 through 
the 100’s refer arbitrarily to sculptures and murals; numerals in the 
200’s refer to ceramics and in the 300’s to the codices. An entry 
may refer to one or more representations, as defined in footnote 8. 
These representations may differ artistically, in over-all type, or in 
the indirect, ‘‘0” type of associations (in which case all the pertinent 


124 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY (Buy. 151 


data are given). They may not differ, however, in their symbolic 
associations (for which presences are indicated by ‘‘X” and ‘‘?’’). 
For a closely united group of separate media, such as different lintels 
in a single structure (Yaxchilan) or different pages in a single codex, 
a single entry is given if the above criteria are satisfied. 

Table 2 gives the incidence of the artistic elements in the portrayal 
of the water lily leaf. The number of leaves, not of representations, 
is given. Occurrences are presented according to site totals. 

Table 3 gives the incidence of the Flower Types, according to the 
totals for each site. The individual flower is the unit to which the 
numbers refer. 

Table 4 gives the incidence of Flower Elements, according to site 
totals. Numbers refer to flowers. 

Table 5 gives the incidences of Over-all Types and the various 
symbolic associations, according to site totals. The representation 
is the unit to which the numbers usually refer, but the number of 
monuments depicting tabulated plant forms at each site are also given. 

Table 6 also gives the incidences of the Over-all Types and the 
various symbolic associations. Differing from previous listings, how- 
ever, the occurrences are given chronologically not spatially. In this 
case, furthermore, the numbers refer to the total number of monu- 
ments rather than to that of the representations on them. The 
number of sites and monuments depicting tabulated forms at a given 
period are also shown. 

Additional information on the reading of the tables is given in 
footnotes 5, 6, and 8 and, in the text, on pages 83 to 84, 92 to 93, 97 
to 98, 100, 102,113,114. For untabulated traits, see pages 98 to 99, 
106, 109 to 110. 


WATER LILY IN MAYA ART—RANDS 


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ANTHROP, PAP. 
No, 34] 


WATER LILY IN MAYA ART—RANDS 


137 


TaBLE 2.—Artistic elements of the water-lily leaf (site totals) 


Positive Leaf elements 


—————— — | | | | | | | | EF EE TF __ 


Palenque___._._.___-- 
IPAraisOre sce ea 5 oe 


Site 


Bonampak._.__._____- 
Calakmul____________- 


TABLE 3.—Artistic flower types (site totals) 


Positive Group I Group II {Group III| Group IV aroup 


“Cozumel” (Chilib ?)____ 69 5 FE OR | ane hae a oe Ad pe a eee ea CD 


El Chicozapote-_.___-_- 


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ge PR CE FR A NT a A a 9 Me 61D |e 


Beg as 


138 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Buin 151 


TABLE 3.—Artistic flower types (site totals)—Continued 


Positive Group I Group II |Group III; Group IV Groap 
Site and pos- 
sible oc- 
currences} A|}B|C|D|/E|F|G/H|I|/J|K|LiIM|N|O/|P/Q|R 


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1 


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WATER LILY IN MAYA ART—RANDS 143 
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BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 


144 


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145 


WATER LILY IN MAYA ART—RANDS 


ANTHROP, PAP. 
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146 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Buty. 151 


SOURCES OF ENTRIES (TABLE 1) ® 


SCULPTURES AND MURALS 


1-12. Bonampak, Palace 1, Room 1. Villagra Caleti; copy by Antonio Tejeda. 

13-14. Bonampak, Stela 2. Proskouriakoff, fig. 69a. 

15. Calakmul, Stela 54. Ruppert and Denison, fig. 51c. 

16. Calakmul, Stela 53. Ruppert and Denison, fig. 51b. 

17. Cancuen, Altar 1. Morley, 1937-38, vol. 5, pl. 96b. 

18. Cancuen, Stela 1. Maler, 1908a, pl. 13, No. 1. 

19-20. Chichen Itza, Temple of the Tigers, Chamber A. Maudslay, vol. 3, 

pl. 35a, b. 

21. Chichen Itza, Temple of the Tigers, Chamber A, Inner (Painted) Chamber. 
Seler, vol. 5, p. 325; copy by Adela C. Breton. 

22. Chichen Itza, Tigers, Chamber E (Lower Temple). Maudslay, vol. 3, pl. 
43c, d, vol. 4, pl. 930. 

23. Chichen Itza, Tigers, Chamber E. Maudslay, vol. 3, pl. 5le, f. 

24. Chichen Itza, Tigers, Chamber E. Maudslay, vol. 3, pl. 45 (Nos. 1-6). 

25. Chichen Itza, Temple of the Tigers, Chamber E (Lower Temple). Maudslay, 
vol. 3, pls. 46 (Nos. 7-10), 47 (Nos. 15-18). 

26. Chichen Itza, Temple of the Tigers, Chamber E (Lower Temple). Maudslay, 
vol. 3, pls. 46-47, (Nos. 11-14). 

27. Chichen Itza, Temple of the Tigers, Chamber E (Lower Temple). Maudslay, 
vol. 3, pl. 48. 

28. Chichen Itza, Temple of the Tigers, Chamber E (Lower Temple). Maudslay, 
vol. 3, pls. 44B, 49B (No. 18). 

29. Chichen Itza, Temple of the Tigers, Chamber E (Lower Temple). Maudslay, 
vol. 3, pls 46A (No. 7), 47A (No. 14). 

30. Chichen Itza, Chamber C (North Building, Ball Court). Breton, fig. 7. 

31. Chichen Itza, Chamber C (North Building, Ball Court). Breton, figs. 5, 6. 

32. Chichen Itza, Chamber C (North Building, Ball Court). Breton, pl. 4. 

33. Chichen Itza, Chamber C (North Building, Ball Court). Breton, fig. 7, pl. 4. 

34. Chichen Itza, Chamber C (North Building, Ball Court). Breton, fig. 3. 

35. Chichen Itza, Ball Court, Benches. Palacios, 1937 a, fig. 41. 

36. Chichen Itza, Temple of the Chace Mool. Morris, Charlot and Morris, 
vol. 2, pl. 28A-B. 

37. Chichen Itza, Temple of the Chac Mool, Columns 1-5. Morris, Charlot and 
Morris, vol. 2, pls. 29-32, 35. 

38. Chichen Itza, Temple of the Chace Mool, South Bench, Side A. Morris, 
Charlot and Morris, vol. 2, pl. 183 (No. 3, 5). 

39. Chichen Itza, Temple of the Warriors, Columns 8, 9. Morris, Charlot and 
Morris, vol. 2, pls. 48H, 49H. 

40. Chichen Itza, Northwest Colonnade, Column 51. Morris, Charlot and Morris, 
vol. 2, pl. 1158S. 

41. Chichen Itza, Northwest Colonnade, Dais. Morris, Charlot and Morris, 
vol. 2, pl. 129. 

42. Chinkultic, Ball Court Marker. Orozco Mufioz, figs. 89, 90. 

43. Chinkultic, Stela 7. Blom and La Farge, fig. 365. 

44. Copan, Stela 9. Maudslay, vol. 1, pl. 110c. 

45, 46. Copan Stela 2, Maudslay, vol. 1, pl. 101. ~ 

47. Copan, Second Ball Court, North and South Markers, Morley, 1937-38, 
vol. 2, End Piece, vol. 4, End Piece. 


‘ Where only one title appears for an author in the Literature Cited, this list omits the publication date. 


wae WATER LILY IN MAYA ART—RANDS 147 


48. Copan, Second Ball Court, Middle Marker. Morley, 1937-38, vol. 3, 
End Piece. 

49. Copan, Altar K. Maudslay, vol. 1, pl. 73a, (glyph 17). 

49a. Copan, Stela6. Maudslay, vol. 1, pl. 105a. 

49b. Copan, Stela A. Maudslay, vol. 1, pl. 26. 

49c. Copan. StelaH. Maudslay, vol. 1, pls. 61, 99b. 

50. Copan, Stela B. Maudslay, vol. 1, pl. 37A, B. 

51. Copan, Stela B. Maudslay, vol. 1, pl. 37B. 

52. Copan, Stela B. Maudslay, vol. 1, pl. 37A. 

53. Copan, Stela N. Maudslay, vol. 1, pls. 77, 82. 

54. Copan, Stela N. Maudslay, vol. 1, pl. 79a, b. 

55. Copan, Altar R. Maudslay, vol. 1, pl. 94a. 

56. Copan, Altar W!. Morley, 1920, p. 331. 

57. Copan, Temple 11. Maudslay, vol. 1, pl. 8. 

58. Copan, Altar T. Maudslay, vol. 1, pls. 95, 96. 

59. ‘Cozumel Stela 1’’ (Chilib?) Lothrop, 1924, p. 46; cf. Proskouriakoff, p. 157. 

59a. El Chicozapote, Lintel 1. Maler, 1903, pl. 37, No. vb 

59b. Etzna, Stela7. Proskouriakoff, fig. 83d. 

60, 61. Ixkun, Stela 4. Morley, 1937-38, vol. 5, pl. 49a. 

62. Ixkun, Stela 1. Maudslay, vol. 2, pl. 69. 

63. La Amelia, Stela 1. Morley, 1937-38, vol. 2, fig. 48. 

64, 65. La Honradez, Stela 4. Morley, 1937-38, vol. 5, pl. 84f. 

66. La Mar, Stela 2. Maler, 1903, pl. 36, No. 1. 

67. Naranjo, Stela 1. Morlev, 1937-38, vol. 5, pl. 88a. 

67a. Naranjo, Stelal4. Maler, 1908 b, pl. 33, No. 2. 

68. Palenque, House C. Maudslay, vol. 4, pl. 24, No. 8. 

69. Palenque, House C. Maudslay, vol. 4, pl. 23 (glyphs A-3, B-4). 

70. Palenque, House A. Maudslay, vol. 4, pls. 10, 11d, e. 

71. Palenque, House B. Maudslay, vol. 4, pl. 18. 

72. Palenque, House E. Maudslay, vol. 4, pl. 43. 

73-75. Palenque, House E. Maudslay, vol. 4, pl. 44. 

76. Palenque, House E. Lothrop, 1929, pl. la. 

77. Palenque, House D, Pier c. Maudslay, vol. 4, pl. 35. 

78, 79. Palenque, House D, Pier f. Maudslay, vol. 4, pl. 37. 

80. Palenque, House D, Pier d. Maudslay, vol. 4, pl. 36. 

81. Palenque, Enclosed Corridor. Maudslay, vol. 4, pl. 47a. 

8la. Palenque, Tower. Palacios, 1937 b, figs. 21, 46. 

8l1b. Palenque, Tomb GroupIV. Ruz, n. d. (1950), figs. 67-77. 

8lc. Palenque, Temple of the Sun. Palacios, 1937 b, fig. 36. 

81d. Palenque, Sun. Maudslay, vol. 4, pl. 88. 

8le-g. Palenque, Palace, North Gallery. Ruz, n.d. (1949), fig. 118. 

81h. Palenque, Temple of the Inscriptions. Ruz, n.d. (1950), pl. 8. 

82, 83. Palenque, Temple of the Sun. Maudslay, vol. 4, pl. 88. 

84. Palenque, Temple of the Cross. Maudslay, vol. 4, pl. 68. 

85-87. Palenque, Cross. Maudslay, vol. 4, pl. 71. 

88. Palenque, Cross. Maudslay, vol. 4, pls. 72, 76. 

89. 90. Palenque, Temple of the Foliated Cross. Maudslay, vol. 4, pl. 81. 

91. Palenque, Foliated Cross. Maudslay, vol. 4, pl. 82. 

92. Paraiso, Trough. Lothrop, 1926, p. 60; Yde, p. 47. 

93. Paraiso, Trough. Yde, p. 47. 

93a. Piedras Negras, Stela33. Maler, 1901, pl. 26, No. 2. 

94. Piedras Negras, Stela 6. Maler, 1901, pl. 15, No. 3. 

95. Piedras Negras, Stela 8. Maler, 1901, pl. 17. 


148 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bunn 151 


96. Piedras Negras, Stela 2. Maler, 1901, pl. 15, No. 1. 

97. Piedras Negras, Stela 11. Maler, 1901, pl. 20, No. 1. 

98. Piedras Negras, Stela 10. Morley, 1937-38, vol. 5, pl. 130c. 

98a. Piedras Negras, Stela40. Morley, 1937-38, vol. 5, pl. 135b. 

99, 100. Piedras Negras, Stela 14. Maler, 1901, pl. 20, No. 2. 

101, 102. Piedras Negras, Stela 13. Maler, 1901, pl. 18, No. 2. 

102a. Piedras Negras, Miscellaneous Sculptured Stone 16. Kelemen, vol. 2, 

pl. 83a. 

103. Piedras Negras, Sacrificial Rock. Morley, 1937-38, vol. 3, fig. 1175. 

103a. Quirigua, StelaH. Morley, 1937-38, vol. 5, pl. 178Da. 

103b, c. Quirigua, Stela F. Maudslay, vol. 2, pl. 360. 

104. Quirigua, Stela D. Maudslay, vol. 2, pl. 26, No. 3. 

105. Quirigua, Stela D. Maudslay, vol. 2, pl. 26, No. 4. 

106. Quirigua, Stela D. Maudslay, vol. 2, pl. 25, No. 4. 

107. Quirigua, Stela A. Maudslay, vol. 2, pl. 4. 

108. Quirigua, Stela A. Maudslay, vol. 2, pl. 8. 

109. Quirigua, Stela C. Maudslay, vol. 2, pl. 20. 

110. Quirigua, Stela A, C. Maudslay, vol. 2, pls. 8, 20. 

111. Quirigua, Zoomorph B. Maudslay, vol. 2, pl. 14 (Introducing Glyph), 
pl. 15, No. 14. 

112. Quirigua, Zoomorph B. Maudslay, vol. 2, pl. 14, No. 4. 

113. Quirigua, Zoomorph B. Maudslay, vol. 2, pl. 14, No. 1. 

114. Quirigua, Zoomorph B. Maudslay, vol. 2, pl. 14, No. 17. 

115, 116. Quirigua, Zoomorph P. Maudslay, vol. 2, pl. 62. 

117. Quirigua, Zoomorph P. Maudslay, vol. 2, pl. 64. 

118. Quirigua, Zoomorph P. Maudslay, vol. 2, pls. 58, 64. 

119. Santa Rita, Mound 1. Gann, 1900, pl. 19, No. 4. 

120. Santa Rita, Mound 1. Gann, 1900, pls. 29, Nos. 5, 6; 30, No. 3. 

121. Santa Rita, Mound 1. Gann, 1900, pl. 29, Nos. 4, 5. 

121la. Santa Rosa Xtampak, Palace. Proskouriakoff, fig. 94a. 

121b. Sayil, Structure 4B1, lintel. Proskouriakoff, fig. 102d. 

122. Seibal, Stela 10. Maler, 1908a, pl. 8. 

123. Seibal, Stela 11. Maler, 1908a, pl. 9. 

124. Tikal, Stela 1. Maler, 1911, pl. 13. 

125. Tikal, Stela 20. Morley, 1937-88, vol. 1, fig. 18. 

126. Tikal, Temple IV. Maudslay, vol. 3, pl. 71. 

127. Tulum, Temple of the Frescoes. Lothrop, 1924, pl. 7A, B. 

128. Tulum, Frescoes. Lothrop, 1924, pl. 7A. 

129. Tulum, Frescoes. Lothrop, 1924, pl. 8. 

130. Tulum, Frescoes. Lothrop, 1924, pl. 7C. 

131. Tulum, Frescoes. Lothrop, 1924, pls. 7B, 8. 

132. Tulum, Frescoes. Lothrop, 1924, pls. 7B—D, G, 8. 

133. Tulum, Frescoes. Lothrop, 1924, pls. 7C, 8. 

134. Uxul, Stela 6. Ruppert and Denison, fig. 58d. 

134a. Xcalumkin, Initial Series Building. Proskouriakoff, fig. 94c. 

134b. Xcalumkin, Glyphic Group, North Building. Proskouriakoff, fig. 94f. 

134c. Xcocha, Glyphic Band Building. Proskouriakoff, fig. 100a. 

134d. Xculoc, Sculptured Columns Building. Proskouriakoff, fig. 101h, 7. 

135. Xultun, Stela 18. Morley, 1937-38, vol. 5, pl. 78c. 

136. Xultun, Stela 19. Morley, 1937-38, vol. 5, pl. 78d. 

137. Xultun, Stela 5. Morley, 1937-88, vol. 5, pl. 76e. 

138. Xultun, Stela 1. Morley, 1937-88, vol. 5, pl. 78a. 

139. Xultun, Stela 3. Morley, 1937-38, vol. 5, pl. 79b. 


Tata WATER LILY IN MAYA ART—RANDS 149 


140. Xultun, Stela 10. Morley, 1937-38, vol. 5, pl. 80b. 

140a. Yaxchilan, Stela 27. Morley, 1937-38, vol. 5, pl. 103c. 

141. Yaxchilan, Structure 34, Lintel 4. Morley, 1937-38, vol. 5, pl. 110a. 

142. Yaxchilan, Structure 1, Lintel 6. Maler, 1903, pl. 50. 

143. Yaxchilan, Structure 42, Lintels 42, 43. Maudslay, vol. 2, pls. 96, 95a. 

144. Yaxchilan, Structure 23, Lintel 26. Maler. 1903, pl. 58. 

145. Yaxchilan, Structure 20, Lintels 13, 14. Maudslay, vol. 2, pls. 81, 82. 

146, 147. Yaxchilan, Structure 54, Lintels 54, 58. Morley, 1937-88, vol. 5, pls. 
115a, 178Fd. 

148. Yaxchilan, Structure 33, Lintels 1,2. Maudslay, vol. 2, pls. 92, 93. 

149. Yaxchilan, Structure 33, Lintels 2,3. Maudslay, vol. 2, pls. 93, 94. 

150. Yaxchilan, Structure 33, Lintel 3. Maudslay, vol. 2, pl. 94. 

151. Yaxchilan, Structure 33, Lintel 1. Maudslay, vol. 2, pl. 92. 

152. Yaxchilan, Structure 33, Stela 7. Morley, 1937-88, vol. 5, pl. 100d. 

153. Yaxchilan, Structure 55, Lintels 52, 53. Morley, 1937-88, vol. 5, pl. 1158, a. 

154. Yaxchilan, Structure 55, Lintel 53. Morley, 1937-38, vol. 5, pl. 115a. 

155. Yaxchilan, Stela4. Maler, 1903, pl. 70. 

156. Yaxchilan, Stela 20. Maler, 1903, pl. 78. 


CERAMICS 


201, 202. Chama. Gordon and Mason, pt. 1, pl. 8. 

203, 204. Chama. Dieseldorff, vol. 1, pl. 22. 

205. Chama. Butler, pl. 7r. 

206. Chama. Dieseldorff, vol. 1, pl. 34, No. 175. 

207. Chama. Dieseldorff, vol. 1, pl. 82, No. 171. 

208. Chajcar. Dieseldorff, vol. 3, pl. 40A, B, Nos. 96-98. 

209. Chajcar. Dieseldorff, vol. 1, pl. 38, No. 190; Seler, vol. 3, pl. 3, No. 2 
(p. 671); Maudslay, vol. 4, pl. 931. 

210. Copan. Spinden, fig. 101. 

211. Kaminaljuyu. Kidder, Jennings and Shook, fig. 97k, pl. 204d. 

212. Kaminaljuyu. Kidder, Jennings and Shook, pl. 205f. 

213. Nebaj. Gordon and Mason, pt. 2, pl. 30. 

214. Rio Hondo. Gann, 1918, pl. 18; Gordon and Mason, pt. 1, pls. 15, 16. 

215. Rio Hondo. Gann, 1918, pl. 19a. 

216. San Agustin Acasaguastlan. Kidder and Smith, fig. 45a, b. 

217-217b. San Agustin Acasaguastlan. Kidder and Smith, fig. 430. 

217c. Uaxactun. Smith, pl. 5. 

217d. Yalloch. Gordon and Mason, pt. 1, pls. 17, 18. 

218. Yucatan. Gordon and Mason, pt. 1, pl. 21. 

219, 220. Yucatan. Gordon and Mason, pt. 2, pls. 44, 45. 

221. Yucatan. Dieseldorf, vol. 3, pl. 7, No. 10. 

222. Yucatan. Spinden, fig. 79. 


CODICES 
301-317. Page numbers are given for all entries in table 1. 
SOURCES OF ILLUSTRATIONS ” 


FigurE 1. a, Coomaraswamy, pl. 38, No. 2. 6, Maudslay, vol. 4, pl. 37. ec, 
Maudslay, vol. 4, pl. 35. d, Maudslay, vol. 3, pl. 46. 


10 Where only one title appears for an author in the Literature Cited, this list omits the publieation date. 


150 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY (BuLL. 151 


Figure 2. a, Maudslay, vol. 2, pl. 26, No. 3 (lines showing vine, flower, and 
heads have been emphasized). 6, Maudslay, vol. 1, pl. 837A. c, Dieseldorff, 
vol. 1, pl. 22, No. 188. d, Maudslay, vol. 4, pl. 980. e, Maudslay, vol. 3, 
pl. 49B. f, Spinden, fig. 171. 

Figure 3. a, Gann, 1900, pl. 29, Nos. 4-5. 6b, Lothrop, 1924, pl. 8. c, Lothrop, 
1924, pl. 8. d, Dieseldorff, vol. 3, pl. 7, No. 10. e, Maudslay, vol. 3, pl. 51. 
f, Maudslay, pl. 58c. g, Lothrop, 1929, pl. la. h, Dresden 65a. 7, Spinden, 
fig. 88. 

FiagureE 4. a, Maudslay, vol. 4, pl. 23 (glyph B-4). 6, Maudslay, vol. 4, pl. 82 
(glyph C-14). c, Maudslay, vol. 1, pl. 110C (glyph A-5). d, Spinden, fig. 185. 
e, Seler, 1902-23, vol. 5, fig. 15b (p. 210). jf, Kidder, Jennings, and Shook, 
fig. 98d. g, Kidder, Jennings, and Shook, fig. 97k. 

Figure 5. a, Palacios, fig. 41. 6b, Gann, 1918, pl. 19a. c, Maudslay, vol. 4, pl. 
18. d, Maudslay, vol. 2, pl. 64. e, Maudslay, vol. 4, pl. 93g. f, Dieseldorff, 
vol. 1, pl. 22, No. 138. g, Gordon and Mason, pt. 1, pl. 8. kh, Maudslay, vol. 4, 
pl. 44. 7, Maudslay, vol. 3, pl. 46A. 

FicureE 6. a, Maudslay, vol. 2, pl. 14 (Introducing Glyph). 6, Maudslay, vol. 1, 
pl. 77. c, Dresden 13a. d, Morley, 1937-88, vol. 2, fig. 48. e, Spinden, fig. 79. 
f, Maudslay, vol. 4, pl. 10. g, Maudslay, vol. 3, pl. 48. h, Maudslay, vol. 3, 
pl. 45. 


LITERATURE CITED 
Breyer, HERMANN. 
1931. Mayan hieroglyphs: the variable element of the Introducing Glyphs 
as month indicator. Anthropos, vol. 26, pp. 99-108. 
Bio, F., and La Farag, O. 
1926-27. Tribes and temples. Middle Amer. Res. Ser., Publ. No. 1, vols. 
1-2. New Orleans. 
BrETON, ADELA C. 
1917. Preliminary study of the North Building (Chamber C), Great Ball 
Court, Chich’en Itza, Yucatan. Proc. 19th Int. Congr. Amer., pp. 
187-194. Washington. 
ButTLer, Mary. 
1940. A pottery sequence from the Alta Verapaz, Guatemala. In The Maya 
and their neighbors, pp. 250-267. New York. 
Coprx DRESDEN (DRESDENSIS). 
1880. Die Maya-Handschrift der Koniglichen Bibliothek zu Dresden. Ed. 
by E. Forstemann. Leipzig. 
CopEx Maprip (Tro-CorTESIANUS). 
1933. The Madrid Maya codex. Maya Soc., Publ. No. 21. Baltimore. 
Coprex PEREZ (PERESIANUS). 
1909. Codex Perez, Maya-Tzental. Point Loma. 
ConarpD, Henry S. 
1905. The waterlilies. Carnegie Inst. Washington, Publ. No. 4. 
CooMARASWAMY, ANANDA K. 
1931. Yaksas. Part II. Freer Gall. Art, Smithsonian Inst. Publ. No. 3059. 
DIESELDORFF, ERwIN P. 
1926-33. Kunst und religion der Mayavolker. Vols. 1 and 2. Berlin. 
Vol. 3. Hamburg. 
Exuo.im, Gorpon F. ; 
1950. Is American Indian culture Asiatic? Natural Hist., vol. 59, No. 8, 
pp. 344 ff. 


AN ROP. PAP. 
ric rt aaa WATER LILY IN MAYA ART—RANDS 151 


Gann, THomas, W. F. 

1900. Mounds in northern Honduras. 19th Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Ethnol. 
1897-98, pt. 2, pp. 655-692. 

1918. The Maya Indians of southern Yucatan and northern British Hon- 
duras. Bur. Amer. Ethnol. Bull. 64. 

Gorpon, G. B., and Mason, J. A. 

1925-43. Examples of Maya pottery in the Museum and other collections. 

Univ. Mus., pts. 1-3. Philadelphia. 
Hamuin, ALFRED D. F. 

1916-23. A history of ornament. Vol. 1, ancient and medieval; vol. 2, 

Renaissance and modern. New York. 
HeErnE-GELDERN, R., and Exuoum, G. F. 
1951. Significant parallels in the symbolic arts of Southern Asia and Middle 
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1943. Medieval American art. Vols. 1-2. New York. 
Kipper, A. V., JenninGs, J. D., and SHook, E. M. 

1946. Excavations at Kaminaljuyu, Guatemala. Carnegie Inst. Washing- 

ton, Publ. No. 561. 
Loturop, Samuert K. 

1924. Tulum: an archaeological study of the East Coast of Yucatan. Car- 
negie Inst. Washington, Publ. No. 335. 

1926. Stone sculptures from the Finca Arevalo, Guatemala. Indian Notes, 
Mus. Amer. Ind., Heye Found., vol. 3, No. 3, pp. 147-171. New 
York. 

1929. Sculptured fragments from Palenque. Journ. Roy. Anthrop. Inst., 
vol. 59, pp. 53-62. 

LuNDELL, Crrus L. 
1937. The vegetation of Peten. Carnegie Inst. Washington, Publ. No. 478. 
Mater, TEOBERT. 

1901. Researches in the Central portion of the Usumatsintla Valley. Mem. 
Peabody Mus. Amer. Archacol. and Ethnol., vol. 2, No. 1. Cam- 
bridge. 

1903. Researches in the Central portion of the Usumatsintla Valley. Mem. 
Peabody Mus. Amer. Archaeol. and Ethnol., vol. 2, No. 2. Cam- 
bridge. 

1908 a. Explorations of the Upper Usumatsintla and adjacent region: Altar 
de Sacrificios; Seibal; Itsimte-Sacluk; Cankuen. Mem. Peabody 
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909871—53——11 


152 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Buby 151 


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eh aaa WATER LILY IN MAYA ART—RANDS 153 


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SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 
Bureau of American Ethnology 
Bulletin 151 


Anthropological Papers, No. 35 
The Medicine Bundles of the Florida Seminole and the 


Green Corn Dance 


By LOUIS CAPRON 


155 


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CONTENTS 


PAGE 

ETO GUC tIOM me Stk Ce oe peers ares ws Steed Pet he epee On ae on mee ee ore 159 
Hee loOnicdarseMminOlees w 2 eee = eet ee eer ee re eee teen 160 
[SL OVS FERP rT a Ra ete eae yp LAL aon oR gph 4 kollel aici 161 
‘Liew vredicine bundles = een.) Peel ew beef oe eee 162 
‘hes Medicines ts ae eee ese ners eee Me eS eee 163 

The Rattlesnake and the Horned Owl____-_------__---------- 164 

How the Medicine came (Cow Creek version)__.______-.------ 165 

How the Medicine came (Miccosuki version)_____-_____-_------ 166 
IMTICANMANINIDIS eee ee ee oe ne, Sen See WE RAE eet ee 166 
Oneloriginal Bundles 4.20. > shee ees ee 8 er eee 167 
heihorw et the: Srdke-Kings 2-20 sep be ee 168 
IPOwerineWarnvwiedicine= = sooo e. Se See eee 2 ee eee 168 

EIEM BOSSI OLONG se ate se aeek Meee ee Sinem FET MSR |e eee re ere 169 
TEPatLLeSM ee eeere tae Mee Ree ee ee ee ee 170 
Piwethe Medicine is kepts o-2> eo. Fete At oe eee 171 
NewsMedicine. = 5) Oh yee ens es 8 Se hey ed 2 at ir(al 
OthorvVed eine =. Ae ess Se ee eer Pres EE ek i he 5 172 
VENETO be 3 ee See So ae ae ei sg ed eae 2 ey 2 ar pe 172 
ibherGreensCorns Dances on =i nee Eek ALM ise ee See eae ee 175 
RBICONCe-SrOUNG = =e Beek oe le eS Se een eee 182 
Helpers with the Medicines.-t. 4 ol bos e8 TiO ee ee 183 
MibUTI CATIMPALLICS each fees ee cease) or ek Oh ee eee 184 
HIS eMCL ET COS M eerye eine egal hae fe ae 8 Sees ag fe Ee RE ee 186 
JEXTCTE 22 0. SRR SNARE alae ne roel ga) Soni PRON ENER eee epee eT very emer eS ny oe 188 
CUSTER 01 ERA ee ce NRE RS Ur Pc OR SP PN M/W SENOS 188 
Aber Medicine ns UM laisse ch ecere t  ae ener ayant |. cues ee) Plea lames 190 
SCravchine the pOysect = 222 2068. ee ee Tipo 

ihe Wenthera Dances: 2. Bie tend pet hle) me 8 Apes Boe eee 193 

iihhess lack rin kS~t ss tak oot Be De eo ee 195 
Grimesandathe,Courte2.-. 2222-3 22s. nee a eee eee ee ee 196 

State of themationoct. ob. 2. 8s eo A i eg oe 198 
WeurtWayravernoOOn oes ee A ee ee ne ee eee 198 

pie last nisg lye | BAER i ee 1 dee le ibe Jee ee ae 200 
whe Bish Pat Drink 10080 ie ipt see ile. yen a gs feet Bes 202 
Pancevaly nie hte 235-2520 ely ot She ae he ee ce eh ee 202 

Whe sceneratwnu anighitiies2 ee a= ee oe ee et 204 

ERE AN TAR CUNO IN es a a ne eo nS See ees eae a ere 205 
RNS SCE A CCIE crscre orale eee enema a mea ee ee ee 206 

B= Vianiatiom Gh plates. —-- o=b eee ee Deep ise. Lee Se 208 


158 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Butt. 151] 


ILLUSTRATIONS 
PLATES 
d.' Typical Seminelée-village.2.2. .. 35 ee 
8. Two Seminole Medicine Men. Left: Ingraham Billy, Medicine Man of 


SOON 


the Tamiami Trail Seminole. Right: Sam Jones, long-time Medicine 
Man of the Cow Creek Seminoles2-<22 eee 


- Two Seminole Medicine Men. Left: John Osceola, Big Cypress Medi- 


cine Man at the 1949 Green Corn Dance. Right: Josie Billy, former 
Medicine Man of the Tamiami Trail Seminole___________________ 


- Clan camp at the Green Corn Dance. Upper: Occupied clan camp. 


Lower: Clan camp between Corn Dances___-____________________ 


. Setting for the Green Corn Dance. Upper: The dance circle. Lower: 


Sweat-bath stones and framework_._-._._...__.-..-._-=-.-.-<_- 


. Views of the Green Corn Dance structure. Upper: The tchoc-ko 


thloc-ko, or “Big House.’’ Lower: Reserved seats for the Green 
Corn Dante! 2. 2522-5 ee on oa 


. Plants used in preparation of the Black Drink. Left: Herbs from the 


Black Drink. Right: Black Drink herbs and prayer reed] =. 


- Items used in the Green Corn Dance. a, Scratcher. b, Forked 


Medicine stick. c, Score board__._.-_==..54 sa oe ee 


; Arrancement of Clan Camps... 2_. 1222. 5. 
>. Atrangenient of clan camps... =. =<... 3.03 4.5 eee 


210 


210 


181 


THE MEDICINE BUNDLES OF THE FLORIDA SEMINOLE 
AND THE GREEN CORN DANCE 


By Louis Capron 


INTRODUCTION 


At the 1950 census the Seminole of Florida numbered 823, the 
progeny of some 150 left in the Everglades and other remote parts 
of the southern peninsula at the end of their war with the United 
States (1835-42). There they were isolated for the next hundred 
years—a lost world of culture—cut off from surrounding influences by 
an understandable hate, suspicion, and mistrust. To a great extent 
their subsequent contacts with the Whites have done little to change 
this attitude. 

This “Iron Curtain” not only preserved their culture virtually 
unaltered, it made that culture extremely difficult for the ethnologist 
to study. This difficulty was amply demonstrated by Clay Mac- 
Cauley, who in 1880 made as comprehensive a study as possible 
for the Bureau of American Ethnology, and it is well illustrated by 
the fact that, to date, no eye-witness account of the Green Corn 
Dance has ever been published, nor has it been known that they pos- 
sessed Medicine Bundles, much less that their social, political, and 
religious organization centered around them. 

With the simple physical aspects of Seminole culture so difficult 
to come by, it is easy to see how almost impossible it is to penetrate 
to their esoteric life. Two things, at least, are absolutely essential. 
The first is a friendship and confidence that can be built up only over 
a period of years, and, secondly, some knowledge of what to look for 
and what it means. Time to establish the first has been lacking to the 
ethnologist. ‘Those whom long friendship has admitted to some 
phases of the secret beliefs have lacked the background to interpret 
and evaluate them. 

This is particularly true of the Medicine Bundles. The Medicine 
in them is no longer used for its curative properties, though this was 
the original function of much of it. The Bundles are brought out only 
for the Green Corn Dance, and then they are in evidence only from 
the morning of Court Day to sunrise the following mornmg—24 hours 

159 


160 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLy. 151 


during which it is the almost invariable rule that no white man may 
be present. 

Two other things are behind the Seminole secrecy regarding the 
Medicine. ‘The first is the fear of harming it. There is no certainty 
as to just what an antagonistic presence might do to injure the Medi- 
cine—to draw its power or make it harmful instead of benign. So 
essential to their welfare do the Indians consider the Medicine that 
they take no chances. The final element is the fear of ridicule. 
The white man as a rule does not bother to hide his amusement and 
skepticism of rituals and beliefs that differ from his own. 

These, then, are the reasons that the Medicine Bundles of the 
Florida Seminole have just come to light. They are also among the 
reasons why error may creep into a report on the Medicine, however 
careful one may be to keep it out. Add to this the fact that almost 
none of the older Seminole who know the lore talk good English or 
understand English well and combine this with the difficulty of ex- 
pressing abstract ideas, and one has a further picture of the difficulty 
of obtaining esoteric data. 

Basically, the facts here given are correct. The broad picture is 
authentic. On minor points there is often disagreement at the source, 
in some cases it may be from a misunderstanding of the question, in 
others there is an actual difference of opinion. There are naturally 
errors on the part of the transcriber. What this does pretend to be 
is a skeleton, articulated as carefully as possible, with flesh and 
skin added where practicable, but to be built up by future investiga- 
tions into a completed whole. And this must be done soon. The 
younger generation cares little for ancestral lore and rituals, and 
soon the most authentic aboriginal ideologies still existing will have 
passed with the wise old men. 


THE FLORIDA SEMINOLE 


There are only 823 Seminole. They occupy the southern part of 
the Florida Peninsula, from a few miles north of Lake Okeechobee to 
a short distance south of the Tamiami Trail. They are naturally 
divided into two linguistic groups. From the beginning of the Semi- 
nole Nation, this division between Miccosuki and Creek has been 
recognized. The Cow Creeks speak a dialect of Creek; the Miccosuki, 
a Hitchiti dialect. How different they can be is shown by the two 
names for Florida’s great, central lake. O-kee (water) Cho-bee (big) 
is Miccosuki. Wee (water) thloc-ko (big) is Cow Creek. Both of 
these names are recognized by the War Department map of 1838— 
the first map to show the lake correctly. - In spite of intermarriage 
between the groups, this difference in language still persists. 


ANTHROP. Pap. 
No. 35] FLORIDA SEMINOLE—CAPRON 161 


The Cow Creeks, or Muskohegan proper, live to the north and north- 
east of Lake Okeechobee and number roughly a third of the whole 
population. Their territory includes the large Government reserva- 
tion south of Brighton, which was laid out to embrace the traditional 
home of several families. The others are scattered on private lands 
where, in many cases, their families have lived for generations. They 
are usually located on or near ranches where they can find work with 
stock raisers or vegetable growers. Most of those on the reser- 
vation are employed there by the Government in maintenance work 
or with the Indian cattle herd. Those off the reservation are self- 
supporting. 

The Miccosuki live south of Lake Okeechobee. Several families 
live on or near the Government reservation at Dania, where some of 
them have established commercial camps for the sale of coconut-fiber 
dolls, beadwork, Seminole clothing, and other handiwork. Most of 
the men find work of various kinds nearby. There are several com- 
mercial camps in Miami where the Indians are maintained and ex- 
ploited by Whites. There are about 10 commercial camps along the 
Tamiami Trail, owned and operated by Indians. And finally, there 
are numerous families in the State reservation, on hammocks in the 
marshlands north of the Tamiami Trail, and all through Big Cypress 
Swamp. 

MODE OF LIVING 


Almost without exception, the Seminole live as they have lived for 
a hundred years. Each group is a family, consisting of the old couple, 
the married daughters and their families, and the unmarried sons and — 
daughters. In the center is the communal cooking shelter with a 
thatched roof over the star fire. Around this are grouped the indi- 
vidual houses with thatched, overhanging roofs and a wooden floor 
about 2 feet above the ground. 

They do buy groceries from the Whites and make their bread of 
white flour instead of the traditional koonti root. But in the main 
the only concessions they make to the inventions of the last hundred 
years are the automobile, the phonograph, and the hand Singer sew- 
ing machine with which the women put together the intricate piece- 
work of their garments. 

This resistance to change marks the rituals and recondite matters 
to an even greater degree. Changes do occur but they are natural 
changes, such as happen when there are no written records, or they 
are a normal development from year to year. None are concessions 
to the white society with which they are surrounded. Their ceremon- 
ies are in no way for show nor do they cater to an alien audience. In 
fact, they want no audience. The rituals are sincere and sacred and 
still serve their original purposes. 


162 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLu. 151 


THE MEDICINE BUNDLES 


The religious and political life of the Seminole centers around three 
Medicine Bundles (sook-cha, “‘bag’’—mic-co, ‘‘chief’’; or hil-leesh-wa, 
“‘medicine’’—a-sook-cha, ‘‘bag’? (Cow Creek); ai-yicks-chee, ‘‘med- 
icine’”’—sa-bo-kee, ‘‘bag’’; or ai-yicks-chee, ‘‘medicine’”’—chin-a-box- 
shee-kee, ‘‘morning’”’ (Miccosuki)). Each is kept by a Medicine 
Man (hil-leesh-wa, “medicine’’—puts-cha-shee, ‘looks after’? (Cow 
Creek); ai-yicks, ‘‘medicine’’—me-for-see, “‘takes care of’? (Micco- 
suki). Thus the Seminole are divided into three groups, each of 
which has a Medicine Bundle, a Medicine Man with one or more as- 
sistants, a senate of three or four older men who govern the group, each 
of which has its own Green Corn Dance. 

Sam Jones is the Medicine Man of the Cow Creek Seminole. He 
got his Bundle from his father-in-law, Billy Smith. His principal 
assistant is his brother, Frank Shore, who is expected to succeed him 
as Medicine Man.! Oscar Hoe, another brother, was previously his 
principal assistant. 

Ingraham Billy is Medicine Man of the Tamiami Trail Miccosuki. 
This Bundle was held for a great many years by Billy Motloe. When 
he died it passed to Ingraham’s brother, Josie Billy. A few years ago, 
Josie was converted to the Christian faith. He gave up his position 
as Medicine Man, but went on using his knowledge of herbs as an 
Indian doctor. For two years he held his Medicine Bundle, during 
which time there was no Green Corn Dance on the Trail. Then he 
turned it over to Ingraham Billy, who already had a name as a Medi- 
cine Man, and who put on his first Green Corn Dance in 1948. His 
assistants are his son, Jimmy Billy, and Frank Charlie. 

The Big Cypress Medicine Bundle is held by Frank Tucker, but he 
has had it only a few months. It was given to him by his father-in- 
law, John Osceola, who put on the Corn Dance in 1949 with Frank 
Tucker as one of his assistants. For many years this Bundle was held 
_ by Cuffney Tiger, who put on the Corn Dance of the Big Cypress group. 
He died at the Cow Creek Green Corn Dance in 1947. His Medicine 
Bundle disappeared for 2 years. Ingraham Billy, Trail Medicine Man, 
had hidden it until he could find someone he thought capable of hand- 
ling it. He finally turned it over to John Osceola, whose assistants 
at the 1949 Corn Dance were his sons-in-law, Frank Tucker and John 
Billy, and his son, Billy Osceola. 

It is not planned that the Medicine Bundle be passed on by death. 
The Medicine Man’s assistant is trained to succeed him, and when he 
feels his successor is ready, the Medicine Man turns the Bundle over 
to him and retires to private life. Sam Jones, by far the senior of the 
present Medicine Men, is turning over more and more of his part in the 


1 Sam Jones has retired, and Frank Shore is now Medicine Man. 


Folge a a FLORIDA SEMINOLE—CAPRON 163 


ritual of the Green Corn Dance to Frank Shore, and hopes soon to 
transfer the whole thing.?, He has been Medicine Man for over 20 


years. 
THE MEDICINE 


The Medicine Bundle is to the Seminole what the Ark of the Cove- 
nant was to the Jewish Nation. The Medicine was given to him 
directly by God, and the Bundle contains everything necessary for the 
Indian’s well-being. When new conditions arise and something is 
needed to control them for the Indian’s benefit, es-te fas-ta reaches 
down sometime during the last night of the Green Corn Dance and 
places in the deerskin that holds the Medicine a new kind to meet the 
new need. 

If the Seminole group is the “body,” then the council of old men is 
the “brain,” and the Medicine Bundle, which is the concrete symbol 
of God’s care for the Indian, is the “soul.’”’ The Medicine is alive. 
Each piece of it must move by itself some time the last night of the 
Green Corn Dance. It has the power to do great good. That was the 
purpose for which God intended it. But if misused, it has the power 
to do great harm. That is why it is guarded so carefully—lest its 
forces be changed in some way into forces of evil; lest its powers be 
turned down a wrong channel and become hurtful instead of helpful. 
And that is why the first thing the Medicine Man does each morning 
of the Green Corn Dance, as he stands naked in the pond facing the 
east, is to rub the water over his body as he prays that he may handle 
the Medicine safely and for the good of the Indian, and that it may do 
him no harm. 

This is the song of the Medicine Man as he stands in the water facing 
the sunrise, the last 4 days of the Green Corn Dance: 

Supa-hon-sup-h (Repeated six times) 
Ta-lok-ka-lee 


Staf-a-sta 

Fil-sa-hon (Repeated six times) 

Ta-lok-a-lee (Repeated four times) 
Translation 

Fog Make bright Bless 

Now they come Please give me something 

Don’t say, ‘‘No” Bless 

Now they come Please give me something 


The fact that the Medicine Bundle is the ‘‘soul” of the group is 
perhaps best demonstrated by the fact that if the Medicine is allowed 
to die, as it can through several years of discontinuance of the Green 
Corn Dance, the life would pass out of the tribe—‘‘No more Sem- 
inole,’”’ it was explained. ‘‘Mebbe Indian die.” I read that passage 


3 He has now done so. 


164 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY {BuLL. 151 


to Sam Jones, Medicine Man of the Cow Creek Seminole. ‘‘No more 
White man,” he amended. ‘Everything gone!”’ 

One cannot help being struck by the truth in Indian symbolism. If 
the Green Corn Dance were neglected, the Medicine would die, be- 
cause it would mean that faith in the Medicine was dead. Faith is 
the life of any religion, just as faith is an essential element in the cure 
of disease. It is also obvious that if the great cohesive force of the 
Green Corn Dance were lacking, the tribe would disintegrate. 

The Medicine is always folded in a deerskin, hair side out. When 
the medicine has to be hidden out at the time of the Green Corn 
Dance, it is further wrapped in a piece of waterproof cloth if the 
weather is inclement. Within the outer covering, each kind of medi- 
cine is done up in a small piece of buckskin, and wound with a buck- 
skin thong. The private medicine of certain of the Indians is usually 
wrapped in cloth. The Medicine consists of many different things: 
pieces of horn, feathers, stones, dried animal parts—some six or seven 
hundred different items in each Medicine Bundle—but the identical 
things in each of the three bundles. Where the Medicine came from 
originally is shown in the story of the Rattlesnake and the Horned 
Owl. This is as it was told to me by Sam Tommie in 1938, and 
checked since with two Medicine Men: 


THE RATTLESNAKE AND THE HORNED OWL 


Long time ago, Rattlesnake think he see how long he go without eat. Horned 
Owl he come along. He say, “What you do?” 

Rattlesnake say, ‘‘I see how long I go without eat.” 

Owl he say he can go longer without eat than Rattlesnake. 

So that Rattlesnake say, ‘All right. I know I can go longer without eat than 
you can. You go up in that tree. Don’t you go away. Every 30 days I come 
out. Irattle. You holler, ‘Ow!’ ” 

So that Rattlesnake go in he’s hole. Thirty days. He come out. Rattle- 
snake rattle and Owl holler, ‘“Ow!’”’ Snake go back in. 

Thirty days more. That snake come out. He rattle. Owl holler, “Ow!” 

Three months. Snake rattle. Owl holler, ‘“Ow!’’ 

Four months. Snake rattle. Ain’t nothin’. 

Thirty days more. Snake rattle. Ain’t nothin’. So that snake come out 
and look around. 

Then an old person come along. Only he ain’t person. He like a monkey. 
Call him es-te mat-tee. That means, ‘‘Person look all over.’”’ Anything he find 
he put in he’s bag. 

He say to that Rattlesnake, ‘“You give me you fang.” 

That Rattlesnake he say, ‘I only got four fang. I give you two.’”’ Then 
he say, ‘“You want Owl’s claws?” 

So he take rattlesnake fang and owl claw and put ’em in he’s bag. That’s 
how Indian get those Medicine. 

When monkeys come along they can talk to animals. Hu-lots-kee, that’s 
monkey. 

[‘‘We call monkey, wo-wit ko koish-kee,’’ Sam Jones commented. ‘That’s 
‘Raccoon man.’ ’’} 


teh cael FLORIDA SEMINOLE—CAPRON 165 


Es-te mat-tee, he get some medicine, but he doan know how to use it. Tha’s 
before people come. When people come, es-te fas-ta, he come down. He bring 
lots more medicine. He show people how to use it. 


HOW THE MEDICINE CAME 


(Cow Creek version) 


Kee-sa-kee tom-a-see, “the Old Man.” His boy is stuf-a-sta (es-te fas-ta), 
that means, ‘Gives Everything.” 

It was very bright for 4 or 5 days before ‘‘Give Person”? came. Lots more 
people come in. He give ’em gifts right on Indian River. Indians ask, ‘‘Where 
you come from?” 

Stuf-a-sta give ’em everything—he give ’em land—he give ’em medicine—all 
kinds Medicine—oh, eight, nine hundred kinds. He give ’em rice and every- 
thing else. Only he didn’t give ’em corn. He show ’em coconut shell rattle, 
you know, like Billy Stewart have for Buffalo Dance. 

Last day he say to ’em, ‘‘Who want to be Medicine Men?” Pretty soon one 
Tiger say, “I.”” Then one Wind say, “I.” But Birds scared. Everybody else 
scared. 

[The name of the man from the Wind Clan was to-ka-long-chee, Josie Billy 
explained. The Tiger was to-wee-ah-kee. There must always be two Medicine 
Men.] 

He say to them two men, “All right, you be Medicine Men. You take the 
Medicine. You take it out in woods. You build you a little hut. You clear 
out all around it so fire won’t burn it. You put Medicine in it. Every night 
you sleep by it. You lie on west of Medicine. You hear him talk you better 
listen!” 

When stuf-a-sta go he say, ‘‘Man comin’.”’ In ’bout two-three weeks, fas-ta- 
chee, “Little Give,” come. He look like corn. He about that tall [about 2 
feet]. His hair like corn—his body all corn. He sit down and talk. 

He take out little bag [about 3 inches long] with five or six corn in it. He 
say, ‘““You know what that is?” They don’t know. He say, “That corn. That 
good for you.” He tell ’em all about grind it. 

He say, ‘You build a shack, all logs close together—10, 12 feet high—15 feet 
square—15 and 15, plain square. You go now cut logs. Pretty soon dark.” 

He ask ’em how many camps. They say five camps. Not Bear, it too small. 
That’s why he make log house that size. This be for all these camps. That 
log house ti-hee. He tell ’em he go to other camps. That ain’t so. He give 
this corn to Tigers. That be for everybody. 

Then they all go to bed, go to sleep. Corn man fix bed in corner. When 
everybody sleep, he slip out. Gone! 

’Bout eleven o’clock, noise like electricity—‘Hum-hum-hum-hum-hum-hum- 
hum!” They don’t touch log house. That noise never stop all night. In the 
morning it stop. Then they open house. It’s full of corn. When they open 
door it come out on the ground. They take that corn to everyone in five or six 
camps. 

The next day they cut green logs. They burn out hole. They make pounding 
sticks. They put in a little corn—put in a little water. They pound that corn 
just like he told ’em. They pound it ’bout half an hour. Then they make 
sof-kee. 

They use the rest of that corn for seed—that what’s in the east side of the 
corner. They plant that corn 3 days after. It come up as good as can be. 


? 


166 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bui 151 


All that time the Medicine Men sleep by the Medicine. One night there be 
a voice. That be after the corn man come. That voice sing song about the 
Medicine. There be four—five hundred kinds Medicine in that bag. That first 
night it sing ’bout three kinds at a time. Sometimes it sing ’bout five kinds 
Medicine put together—six or eight or three or two. Each kind Medicine, new 
song. 

When that song done, that voice say, ‘‘You know that song?’ Mebbe that 
Medicine Man don’t know that song. He say, “‘I don’t know that song.’”’ Then 
that voice sing that song again. By’m by that Medicine Man know that song. 
Some nights that voice ain’t come, then they sleep all night. Sometimes there 
be three songs, sometimes five. Sometimes they get through eleven o’clock, then 
they go sleep. Sometimes they ain’t sleep all night. 

Them first two Medicine Men they got eight-nine hundred songs—mebbe 
thousand. They do this one-and-half years. Then he teach ’em one last song. 
That for all kinds Medicine. Then he say, “You know all them songs?” One 
Medicine Man he say, “I ain’t sure ’bout this one.’”? That voice say, ‘“‘That other 
fellow, he know that one. You sing these songs to each other. When you wrong, 
he tell you.”’ They do that half a year. Then they both know all them songs. 

Then that voice he say, ‘‘Gotta do something them young boys—make ’em 
strong. You heat ’emstones. Take steam bath. After that you blood it all 
over body. You go up yonder—find it water—take bath all things—wash all 
over. Before daylight you count Medicine. See what luck you got.” 


This is a Cow Creek version. Josie Billy, ex-Medicine Man of 
the Miccosuki, does not agree that the Seminole came up out of 
the ground near Silver Springs. 


HOW THE MEDICINE CAME (MICCOSUKI VERSION) 


Indians came out of high hill near Atlanta in Georgia [according to Josie Billy]. 
Creeks come out of high hill north side of big river. Muscogee come out of big 
hill south side. There were 61 different tribes of Creeks—49 different tribes 
Muscogee: All people together 110 different tribes. Medicine leak out of another 
hill on Muscogee side. Just Muscogee get Medicine. They give it to Creeks. 
But first Muscogee make house for Medicine. Medicine say something—sing. 
Those two fellows don’t eat 8 days. 

When they go back, hear something at night—midnight—grab it. That’s new 
kind Medicine. Know all kinds sickness. Tells ’em too. 


AFRICAN ANIMALS 


In the summer of 1938 I took Sam Tommie, one of the most articu- 
late of the Seminole, to New York for a radio broadcast. In the week 
we were there, we visited the museums and other places of interest. 
In the Museum of Natural History are the marvelously lifelike Akeley 
groups of African deer and antelope in their natural surroundings. 
As we stood in front of the first case, Sam said, ‘“You know what we 
call that animal?” 

No Seminole had ever seen that animal before, or any of the 
animals in the exhibits. But Sam went down one side of the hall and 
back the other and gave almost every animal there a perfectly good 
Seminole name. They were descriptive names such as “Big Rabbit”’ 


NOCHET FLORIDA SEMINOLE—CAPRON 167 
or ‘Water Cow.”’ ‘You know how I know about them animals?” 
Sam asked. 

Then he explained that Sam Jones had in the Medicine Bundle 
about 38 points of horn—not full horns, but the white tips, and for 
each he has a description that fits one of the African animals. His 
descriptions run like this: ‘Hair like goat’s hair. Hair and tail 
like a goat. Neck with white spots. Whitespot on shoulder. Stripe 
close to eyes. Horns close together then spread. Back tail white.” 
I took him back 2 days later and we went over the animals again. 
In many cases he gave them the same names; in others, he didn’t. 
Sometimes he gave the name to a different animal. 

The net meaning of all this, it seems to me, is this: The ancient 
Seminole Medicine contains 18 horn points each accompanied by a 
description. These descriptions are not definite enough to identify 
the animal accurately, but are definite enough to eliminate any indig- 
enous animal with which the Seminole might be expected to be ac- 
quainted. The suggestion has been made that the Seminole got 
these descriptions from the Negroes with whom they were closely 
associated at the time of the Seminole War and before, many of whom 
were fresh from their African homeland. 

Sam Tommie’s comment on the rhinoceros was particularly inter- 
esting as showing a definite aspect of the Medicine. The description 
was: ‘“T'wo horns and round nose.” 

“They doan know what to do about that point,’”’ Sam Tommie said. 
“Sam Jones, he’s afraid of it. Every time he touch it his hand swell 
up an’ get sore. ‘At’s the worst horn Sam got. He think he just 
take care of it. Keep it in bag. Bring it out every 4 years. He 
doan know what it’s good for. Hedoan touchit. He pick it up with 
sticks—like this.”’ 

Sam Jones verified these facts. The name of the horn is ee-ah-pee. 


ONE ORIGINAL BUNDLE 


From the beginning and until the time of the Seminole War (1835— 
42) there was only one Medicine Bundle. This was in charge of the 
two Medicine Men. There must be two Medicine Men for a Medicine 
Bundle, as Josie Billy pointed out, because of the rituals. Originally, 
as reference to the origin story will show, they were of equal importance. 
Today, the Medicine Man is infinitely more important than his assist- 
ant, who does not even have the title, but is called ee-ma-shwa, “‘stay 
with all night,’’ or ka-a-pox-shee ee-ma-shat-see. # 

At the time of the Seminole War, Josie Billy explained, Little 
Chiefs came to the Medicine Man. “Going on long trip,” they 
would say. ‘Got to have some of that Medicine.’ So the Medicine 

909871—53—12 


168 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 151 


Man would make up a Bundle with a little bit of each kind of that 
Medicine in it, and the Little Chief would take it with him and his 
war party. In that way, a lot of these little Medicine Bundles were 
lost. Others, the Florida Seminole think, were taken west. But at 
the end of the war, three Bundles were left in Florida, and these are 
the three Bundles in use today. 

A great deal of the Medicine in the Bundles is for war; and, as 
Josie Billy explained it, ‘some of it is for people, and some of it is 
for people get hurt—like break your leg.” 

Ten years ago Sam Tommie told me about “Shot-in-the-heart” 
Medicine. Hil-eesh hat-kee, ‘‘white medicine,” is Creek; ai-yicks 
hat-kee is Miccosuki. It is known also as ‘‘white roots,” according 
to Josie Billy. This is the medicine Josie Billy told Robert Greenlee 
about. If it is used within 15 minutes of the time a man is shot in 
the heart, the man will get well. It was effective 100 years ago when 
it was used in the Seminole War, but there has been no opportunity 
to use it since. ‘Put in water, shake it up, drink it,” is the method 
of use according to John Osceola, Medicine Man. Sam Jones, the 
oldest and most experienced Medicine Man, says that hil-eesh 
tock-fee, another Medicine in the Bundle, is even more effective. 
“Man die half an hour, put a little Medicine on each side mouth. 
Half hour he come to.”’? This Medicine was made from a snake horn. 

Another snake horn in the Medicine Bundles is the left-hand horn 
of the Snake King. Josie Billy told me the story. 


THE HORN OF THE SNAKE KING 


Another thing in Medicine [Josie Billy says] is left-hand horn from King Snake. 
That horn got power. King Snake got horns. He live under rock. Two fellows 
go after him. One fellow got stick but he afraid. Other fellow, he got stones. 
He singin’. Snake he come out. Fellow throw stone. Break off left-hand horn. 
Right-hand horn more powerful but can’t get that. 

That horn make huntin’ easy. Hold horn in right hand. Start singin’. Deer 
come upright tohorn. Notgoodnow. Dead. Cold. 


Sam Jones verified this story. There are pieces of this horn in each 


Medicine Bundle, and Nahaw Tiger’s private Medicine is a piece 
of it, according to Sam Jones. 


POWER IN WAR MEDICINE 


One evening Sam Tommie stopped by my home. He had been 
traveling through and Josie Billy had told him to be sure to stop and 
tell me about cho-no-thlee, the ‘‘Power in War’ Medicine that is 
in each bundle. . 

“You got to have cho-no-thlee in wartime or you can’t win,” he 
explained. ‘Osceola, he had that. Don’t eat it, just taste it. [He 
illustrated by touching lightly several times with the tip of his tongue 


Tbe a FLORIDA SEMINOLE—-CAPRON 169 


an imaginary something in his hand]. Mustn’t eat all day when 
you use it. It’s like hard stone—like marbles. Each Medicine Man 
got little piece. Not work just where you are—work way out, 20, 
30 miles away. Indians have known it forever.” 

Independently of this, Henry Cypress had also told me something 
about this stone. “I think that’s a spirit,” he said. ‘Sometimes 
there; open package again, gone. Sometimes there, sometimes gone. 
That’s little stone like old time make fire.” 

Cho-no-thlee is the Miccosuki word. The Cow Creek, Sam Jones 
told me, is sho-no-too toot-ka. I told him that Henry Cypress 
said it was sometimes there and sometimes not. ‘No,’ he said. 
“Always there.” 

There is a stone in the Medicine Bundles “like old time make fire.”’ 
It is called ‘‘Medicine Stone,” sat-too hil-eesh-wa (Creek); tal-lee 
ai-yicks-chee (Miccosuki). This is always used to start the Medicine 
Man’s fire at the Green Corn Dance. It is also regarded as a sort of 
insurance. If the Indians were unable to get modern matches, they 
could always use this primitive method of making fire. Each of the 
older Indians also has a piece of flint as a precautionary measure. 
One day when we were discussing this, Tom Smith rummaged in his 
kit until he found his, and illustrated how he could strike fire from 
it with his knife. 


THE BOSS STONE 


Another stone in the Medicine Bundles is called sat-too his-sia-ka 
(Creek), “live stone.” This is a small piece of the same kind of 
stone as is used in the sweat bath. The sweat bath stones them- 
selves are called sat-too hi-yee (Creek), tal-lee hi-yee (Miccosuki), 
‘hot stones.”” They would be ineffective without the stone in the 
Medicine Bundles. That is the head man—the big boss of all sweat- 
bath stones. It directs all sweat-bath stones in their proper duties 
even at a distance. . . . If the life were to pass out of it, the sweat 
bath would no longer be effective. But while the stone is in the 
Medicine Bundles and alive, the Seminole can pick up any stone of 
that kind and use it on the sweat bath confident of its power of cure 
and prevention. 

The implications here are so profound, that I made a special effort 
to find whether there are any other “‘control’”’ pieces in the Medicine 
Bundles. Two Medicine Men, Sam Jones and Josie Billy, both said 
definitely that there were not. 

Nahaw Tiger, one of the Cow Creek group, was sitting beside me at 
the Green Corn Dance and began to talk about the ‘fold Medicine— 
before Indian he come up.”’ Nahaw studied the Medicine for some 
time, and at one time planned to bea Medicine Man. Heis head man 


170 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLy, 151 


in putting on the Hunting Dance (Snake Dance, the Indians call it) 
each fall. He mentioned the deer-horn points, obviously the ones 
that Sam Tommie related to the African animals in the Akeley groups. 

“Snake come up out of water,’”’ Nahaw explained. ‘Ma-tee beat 
him to death, make Medicine of him. That there.” 

“You’ve got some Medicine, Nahaw,’’ I said. (This is the piece 
of the left-hand horn of the snake king mentioned above.) 

“My uncle, Old Tustenegee, give me that medicine,’’ Nahaw said, 
and changed the subject to some ‘‘big bull ants ’bout that long” (a 
little more than an inch) that are in the Medicine Bundles. Sam 
Jones says he does use “big bull ants’? but there are none in the 
Medicine Bundles. He uses them as a treatment for rheumatism but 
he gets them as he needs them. The Creek name is ha-may-lay-ga. 

It was Nahaw Tiger who, years ago when Billy Smith was Medicine 
Man, sold some pa-sa to a Tampa doctor for 25 dollars. It was an 
excellent example of misuse of Medicine and its disastrous results. 
Pa-sa (Cow Creek)—pa-see (Miccosuki)—is just about the most im- 
portant drug in the Seminole pharmacopoeia and plays a very impor- 
tant part in the ritual of the Green Corn Dance. Nahaw wasted away 
until he was near death before he would confess his crime to Billy 
Smith and go through the rigorous course of treatment necessary to 
restore him to a right social attitude and to health. 

Of course Billy Smith knew all the time what he had done, but it 
was necessary for Nahaw to realize his crime, confess what he had 
done, and be willing to demonstrate at the cost of great physical 
discomfort that he was willing to conform, before his cure could be 
effected. I will demonstrate this attitude toward crime and punish- 
ment still further at another point. 


WAR RATTLES 


There is a coconut-shell rattle in the Medicine Bundle, which I have 
seen at each dance. It is the most readily visible article in the bundle 
because of its size and characteristic shape, and because it is not 
wrapped. Most of the items are in little buckskin bundles a couple of 
inches long. Each of these is opened twice each Green Corn Dance: 
once almost as soon as the Medicine Bundle is brought from its hiding 
place in the woods to the dance ground before sunrise on Court Day, 
and once the following morning before sunrise before it is done up 
tightly again in its deerskin and taken from the dance ground to be 
hidden again in the woods. 

I have stood within 6 feet of some of these packets as they were 
opened, quickly examined and folded up again, without being able to 
make out in the slightest degree what isin them. Therattle, however, 
can be identified from a distance. It, also, is a piece of War Medicine. 


Noss) FLORIDA SEMINOLE—CAPRON 171 
It is used only in the War Dance, where its purpose is to whip up 
emotion. As he picks it up to examine it, the Medicine Man shakes 
it lightly close to his ear to see that it is working properly, and then 
returns it to the Medicine Bundle. 


HOW THE MEDICINE IS KEPT 


The Medicine is always folded in a deerskin, tanned with the hair on 
and with the leg and neck skin. It is folded into a tight packet about 
1 foot by 2 feet and 6 or 8 inches thick, with the hair side out. 
During the 24 hours it is displayed at the Green Corn Dance this 
packet is loosened. During all of Court Day the legs are tied together 
and the Medicine Bundle hangs in basket form on a stake to the 
northeast of the dance fire. In the early evening it is taken from the 
stake and arranged behind the Medicine Man and his assistant or 
assistants, half of the deerskin skin side on the ground, and the other 
half folded lightly over the Medicine, the open side toward the 
Medicine Man. 

Between Green Corn Dances, the Medicine Bundle is kept in the 
Medicine Man’s house. When the time comes for the Green Corn 
Dance, the Medicine Man does not take the Bundle directly to the 
dance ground. He takes it somewhere in the woods and hides it. 
This ‘‘somewhere’”’ is to the east of the dance ground and out of sight 
of it. When the Medicine Man or his assistant goes for the Bundle, 
he walks east across relatively open country until he is out of sight. 
He is out of sight for some time before he reappears with the Medicine 
Bundle in his arms. 

When he takes the Medicine away after the final ceremonies, he 
reverses this procedure, returning empty handed to the Dance ground 
and returning at some later day to regain his Medicine. If the 
weather is inclement and rain probable, the Medicine Bundle is 
further wrapped in waterproof cloth when brought from or taken to its 
hiding place in the woods. 


NEW MEDICINE 


When es-te fas-ta brought the Medicine at the very beginning 
of things, he was not done with it. Changing conditions would 
bring about new needs. So, when a new Medicine is needed to take 
care of a new condition, es-te fas-ta brings it. This is always the 
last night of the Green Corn Dance. The Medicine Man does not 
know when it happens, he learns it only when he goes over the 
Medicine and counts it the last morning of the dance. For a good 
many years during my early acquaintance with the Seminole, no 
new Medicine had been added. Sam Tommie told me the Indians 


172 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bunn. 151 


thought this was due to ‘‘too many wires.” The telephone, telegraph, 
and electric lines interfered. Recently, however, Sam Jones has 
received several new kinds—three at one recent Green Corn Dance. 

Many of the Indians have their own private Medicine. This 
follows the same rules as the tribal Medicine. Life in it must be 
renewed periodically and this done at the same time. The private 
Medicine is collected by one of the Medicine Man’s assistants who 
goes from clan camp to clan camp while the Medicine Man’s fire is 
being kindled in the early evening of Court Day. Some of the 
Indians bring their own Medicine to the fire, where it is placed in the 
loosely folded Medicine Bundle with the tribal Medicine. 

The individual Medicine is given back to the owner when the 
Medicine Man is counting over and examining his Medicine the last 
morning. The owner is standing over the Medicine Man who is 
squatted before the Medicine Bundle, opening one package after 
another. When he comes to the proper package, he hands it up 
to the owner who carries it to his hut. 

I was interested to see, in 1946, the Medicine Man give back 
to John Osceola, who has since become a Medicine Man in his own 
right, his gun, which had been with the tribal Medicine all night. 
The purpose was to give it supernatural accuracy. 


OTHER MEDICINE 


Another Medicine about which Josie Billy told me is the ‘‘Thunder 
Bullet.”” This is tim-nee-kee in-tclee in Creek, tu-no-kat-see sa-kee 
in Miccosuki, the first word in each case being “thunder,” the second, 
‘“bullet.”? This is also a War Medicine. 

When rain start coming, lightning strike tree. Go round and round and then 
in ground. Hurry up and dig it out. That in Medicine—White Stone—can 
see through it. Use it in wartime. Soldiers coming, Indians have that, go in 
swamp. White soldiers can’t come, can’t see ’em, don’t know they there. 

Some of the Indians mentioned Thunder Bird feathers, and said 
there were some in the Medicine. Josie Billy denies that there are 
any. Eagle feathers, yes; but no such thing as Thunder Bird feathers. 


RELIGION 


God is sa-kee tom-mas-see in Cow Creek. This is made up of sa-kee 
(breath), tom (everybody), mee-see (make it). In Miccosuki, God 
is fee-sa kee-kee o-meek-chee, which has the same meaning. He is 
not the Indian God—he is God. There is only one God, for Indian, 
for White man, for everyone. He lives far, far up in the sky and does 
not come down to earth. 

Hs-te fas-ta (person—give) is the intermediary between God and 


Sane ren ei. FLORIDA SEMINOLE—CAPRON 173 


man. The Seminole identifies him with Christ and, in many cases, 
considers that he is Christ in the form in which he came to the Indians. 
In fact, this amalgamation of the two religions seems to have resulted 
from the impact of missionaries on the Indian. He retains his own, 
because he cannot conceive that everything that he and his ancestors 
have believed and practiced all their lives is utterly false. He 
naively blends the two. Es-te fas-ta was responsible for the collec- 
tion of the Medicine by es-te ma-tee, and it was he who gave it to the 
Seminole at the great meeting at Indian River City. It was he, 
also, who instructed the first Medicine Men on how to use it. It is 
he who brings new Medicine when the Indians need it. Es-te fas-ta 
gave the Indians everything except corn, which was brought shortly 
after that great meeting by fas-te chee (fas-te, “give’’; chee, “‘ittle’’). 

Ho-la wa-gus corresponds to the devil. The word means ‘“‘bad”’ 
or ‘‘evil,” and is used in that sense as an adjective. Strong drink 
is ho-la wa-gus and so is a viciously quarrelsome man. Ho-la wa-gus 
lives down under the ground but comes to the surface to carry evil 
doers down below. He has all the earmarks of the devil. In fact 
the Christian devil may actually be his prototype. He is rarely 
mentioned. 

This identification with Christianity, the monotheistic idea of one 
God only for everybody, the conception that the Christian God and 
the Indian God are one and the same, the identification of Christ 
with es-te fas-ta, and the similarity of ho-la wa-gus to the popular 
conception of the devil are provocative aspects of the Seminole 
religion. ‘Therein may be the clue to the ease with which the Indian 
everywhere has seemed to adopt Christianity and yet maintain his 
ancestral religion alongside it. 

Another surprising thing about the Seminole religion is the toler- 
ance for other religions. I have never seen the slightest attempt to 
proselyte. ‘The Seminole seems to accept Christianity not as a reli- 
gion, but as an aspect of religion, and his own the same. The first 
is suited to the white man, the second to the Indian. He naturally 
resents proselyting when directed against his people because it means 
the destruction of usages and rituals he considers essential to his good. 
If he believes that the welfare of his nation depends directly on the 
observance of the Green Corn Dance, and that the continued neglect 
of this ceremony will result in the disintegration of his people, he can 
hardly be blamed if he resents the efforts of White missionaries to 
make him abandon it. 

To recapitulate; the Seminole has experience with only two reli- 
gions—the Christian and his own. He believes that the Christian 
God and his own are the same—that there is only one God. He 
believes that his religion is the relationship with God ordained for 


174 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLL. 151 


him, and the Christian religion is the one ordained for the White 
man. Both, he believes, are true. 

Years ago Sam Tommie explained to me the Indian attitude 
toward prayer. A group of the Seminole were to meet a Govern- 
ment official from Washington to ask for certain things they needed. 
But before the conference they went off in the woods and prayed. 
I asked how they prayed, and Sam Tommie explained that they told 
God the things they needed. 

“But He knows everything,” I said, and Sam agreed. 

“Then why did you have to tell Him?” I asked. 

And Sam carefully explained that prayer is not for God’s benefit, 
but for the benefit of the person praying. God knows without being 
told what is good for the Indian, and will give him what is right for 
him to have. But the Indian must never forget that everything good 
comes from God. Prayer, then, is not to ask God for favors, but to 
make the one who prays conscious of his obligation to God and, by 
implication, more worthy to receive the blessmgs that God sends. 

Sleep, to the Seminole, is a kind of little death. In it the ghost 
comes out of the anus and, unhampered by physical laws of time and 
space, goes about having experiences. These experiences, remem- 
bered when the ghost reenters the body and the person wakes, are 
dreams. 

In death, the ghost leaves the body and does not return. It does, 
however, stay near the body. Therefore the Seminole take the body 
to some isolated spot, on a well-hidden hammock, for example, and 
build a long, low, thatched hut with an elevated floor. It is just 
large enough to house the body. Fires are kept burning at the head 
and foot of this hut for 4 days, during which time a special black 
drink is drunk and no relative must leave. Then it is left to its 
ghostly habitant—for this is the abode of the ghost for the rest of 
time—nearby it will live its ghostly life, invisible to all mortals except 
‘fortune tellers.” 

During Sam Tommie’s trip to New York, we were looking through 
- the exhibit of the Western Indian in the Museum of Natural History. 
In the section on “foods,’”’? Sam saw some mushrooms. 

“People eat that?” he said in astonishment. ‘That ghost food. 
Ghosts eat that and itty, bitty bugs. You see those bugs around 
dead bodies.” 

The ghost lives a life, if such a paradoxial expression may be used, 
very much as it did before death. The catafalque is its home. If 
that is destroyed by fire, for example, the ghost is homeless and can 
only acquire another by marrying a woman who has one. At the 
next ghostly Green Corn Dance, he presents his problem to the 


ae FLORIDA SEMINOLE—CAPRON 175 
ghostly Medicine Man, who provides him with a ghostly wife who 
has a home for him to share. 

The soul is not the same as the ghost. If the Indian has lived a 
good life, sa-kee tom-mas-see reaches down and lifts his soul up to 
heaven. If he has lived a bad life, ho-la wa-gus comes up out of the 
ground and draws him down to eternal fires. This is probably not 
indigenous with the Indian but has been adapted from the teachings 
of Christian missionaries. If so, it is a concrete example of the naive 
blending of Christianity and paganism. 


THE GREEN CORN DANCE 


The Green Corn Dance has several names. It is generally known 
as ta-nah kee-ta (Creek); ta-nah kee-kee (Miccosuki). This means ta- 
nah (all people), kee-ta (get together). It is also called nah-kuff 
kee-ta (good time get together); and ah-til-lo kee-ta (serious business 
get together), which refers to the Medicine, Court Day, and the coun- 
cil. Literally, Corn Dance is at-see o-pon-ga (Cow Creek) or ah- 
spee tal-lil-wee (Miccosuki). This refers more properly to the actual 
dance itself, with its particular song, rather than to the several-day 
event with its rituals, ceremonies, and big program of dances. 

The Green Corn Dance has two main purposes: to preserve the 
life in the Medicine and insure health to the individual. Or, as the 
Indian himself puts it, ‘So the Medicine live—so the people live!” 
It is also a necessary purification before the men can eat the now ripen- 
ing green corn. A woman may eat the corn at any time, but even 
small boys must prepare themselves. 

The site for the Green Corn Dance is selected by the Medicine Man 
with the greatest care, to insure privacy. It is moved from time to 
time. I have attended several Green Corn Dances of the Cow Creek 
Seminole, but the two Miccosuki dances differ in no essential detail. 
I have checked this with two Miccosuki Medicine Men. Medicine 
Men attend each other’s dances. John Osceola, Big Cypress Medi- 
cine Man, was a regular attendant at Cow Creek. Cuffney Tiger, 
his predecessor, died at the Cow Creek dance in 1947. The Cow 
Creek dance, then, may be considered typical of all three dances. 

The Cow Creek Seminoles, who constitute about a third of the 
whole Seminole Nation, are scattered through the pine lands around 
the northern shores of Lake Okeechobee, mostly in family groups at 
various points through the Brighton Reservation; at various spots 
off the Fort Pierce-Okeechobee Road; and for a few miles north of 
there. The country is pine lands, with occasional ponds and marshes, 
and intersected by some streams. Outside of the arterial highways 
that cut through it, the roads are nondescript. Those that lead to 


176 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Buby 151 


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FicurEe 7.—Green Corn Dance ground. 
(Legend continued on following page) 


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a 


Aare Par. FLORIDA SEMINOLE—CAPRON 107 


and connect the Indian villages are nothing but a couple of ruts that 
branch and divide and rejoin in an utterly confusing way. 

The Corn Dance grounds are at a distance from the nearest Indian 
village and from 4 to 6 miles off the road at the end of such a maze of 
tracks that one of the Cow Creek Indians has to guide the Big Cypress 
and Tamiami Trail Indians who attend or they could never find it. 
They are in a piece of well-drained land about four sections in extent 
called Grassy Island. It is mostly open country with occasional stands 
of sand pine. 

The dance is held at the beginning of the ‘Everything growin’ 
Moon,” ha-see (Cow Creek); hi-yon-tsee (Miccosuki). This is the 
new moon the last of June or the first of July. The Big Cypress In- 
dians date theirs the same way. The Indians on the Trail hold theirs 
when the “‘Seven Stars,” the Pleiades, which have sunk below the 
horizon, make their reappearance. This last is an earlier date than 
the other. 

Announcement is made by the Medicine Man of the date just a 
few days before, but even then the exact days of the important parts 
of the ritual may be inaccurate. Once the dance starts, however, 
there is no longer a question. For example, a couple of weeks before, 
and again on the Monday before, the Medicine Man told me that 
Picnic Day would be Wednesday, July 7. Actually it was Thursday, 
July 8. It is my experience that Picnic Day is 2 days after the calen- 
dar date of the new moon. 

My first schedule of the Green Corn Dance, obtained years ago, 
called for 6 days and was outlined as follows: 

First Day—Clear land; clean ring. 

Second Day—Smokin’ tobacco leaves. 

Third Day—‘‘Get wood day’’; start dance—not before. 

Fourth Day—Put up tchoc-ko thloc-ko. Picnic Day. 


Fifth Day—Court Day. 
Sixth Day—Black Drink Day—sat-kit-ta (Creek); hi-eet-see (Miccosuki). 


FIGURE 7. 


From a photograph taken just after the close of the ceremonies the last morning. 
It shows the three fires still burning. The clan camps are along the horizon 
line, the tchoc-ko thloc-ko in the right middle distance. The dance circle 
occupies the center of the picture, and the objects having to do with the 
Medicine are to the left. This is the first picture ever made of the dance 
ground. } 

Key: A, Tchoc-ko thloc-ko. B, Ball-game pole. C, Stake for Medicine Bundle. 
D, Frame of sweat bath. E, Smoke of sweat-bath fire. F, Tarpaulin. G, 
Sweat-bath tarpaulin. H, Smoke of Medicine Man’s fire. I, Rough outline 
of Dance circle. J, Log seat of Dance director. K, Dance fire. L, Pails of 
Black Drink. M, Tarpaulin. N, Log pile. O, Log seat for men. P, 
Little Bird Camp. Q, Tiger Camp. R, Bird Camp. 


178 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bub 151 


The first 2 days are sometimes combined. On the other hand, in 
1948, Sunday, July 4, was the first evening of dancing, and the cere- 
monies ended the morning of Saturday, July 10. The calendar new 
moon was the night of Tuesday, July 6. Thursday was Picnic Day 
and Friday, Court Day. 

The Creek schedule is: 


Nit-ta (Day) kats-ka (opening). 

Ee-too (wood) ah-o-kah (get together). 

Hom-pee (meat) shee-off (eat) Kee-ta (all day). Picnic Day. 
Posh-kee-tah (fast) nick-ta (all day). Court Day. 

Nick-ta (day) nots-ka (resting). Last Day. 


The Miccosuki is: 

Yo-ka ha-tsee-tee (smoking), or at-so-mee yo-ka ha-tsee-tee. 

Ce-ta (wood) wee-kee (bring in). 

Im-pee-kee (eating) nick-ta-kee (day). Picnic Day. 

O-ko lin-chee (no eat much). Court Day. 

Ka-a-pox-shee (this is the word for “‘tomorrow’’), or nich-ta (day) no-leets-kee 
(sleeping). Last Day. 


Various things determine the location of the Green Corn Dance. 
Privacy and isolation are the most important. There must be an 
open space of 2 or 3 acres, free of trees. The ground must be dry, a 
condition that varies from year to year. It is never near any perma- 
nent camp. And there must be no taboos. Cuffney Tiger, the visit- 
ing Medicine Man from Big Cypress, died at the 1947 Cow Creek 
dance. The Green Corn Dance will never be held in that location 
again. The new ground, used ever since, is about half a mile away. 

There is no set time for families or individuals to arrive at the 
dance ground. Since it is the social event of the year, however, it is 
the custom to arrive early, especially for the women. Men with 
regular jobs are likely to come late—just in time for the essential 
rituals—unless they are needed to build houses, or unless they are 
willing to sacrifice their pay and jeopardize their jobs for a longer 
stay. Indian philosophy always considers a routine job as definitely 
secondary to a full life. 

The houses at the Green Corn Dance ground are rarely thatched. 
They are used for only 5 or 6 days a year and it would not be worth 
the trouble or the necessary repairs. Instead, a tarpaulin is thrown 
over the ridgepole and attached to the side beams. Otherwise, the 
houses are of the same construction as the permanent houses, with a 
floor about 2 feet above the ground. 

The clan camps are grouped in a rough semicircle, in general to the 
west of the dance circle. There are four or five camps. The Tiger 
and Bird clans are by far the largest. The Little Bird and Deer are 
small. There seems to be no regular order for the arrangement of 


a via FLORIDA SEMINOLE—CAPRON 179 


Nee POLE 


16° 


— 


sc 
Ba<—— 5° ——>2% SWEAT BATH FIRE 


EAST 


70 MARSH 
$25 OVE EAST 
OF LITTLE B/RD 

CAMP 


° 
SWEAT BATH 


2/ 


NR) ncorcwe MANS FIRE 


= BALL GAME POLE 


165° 
10° EAST OF 
SOUTH TOLITTLE 
— BIRO CLAN CAMP 


L0G FOR 
DANCE DIRECTOR 


QANCE FIRE 


270° 
NORTH TO 
QEER CLAN CAMP 


DANCE 
C/RCLE 
94° ACROSS 


Oe ss 


SOUTH WEST TO 


z : 71GER CLAN CAMP 


7CHOC -KO 10 
THLOC-KO 


/— 4. 


Yee? 
30° NORTH OF WEST TO 
8/RD CLAN CAMP 


FicursE 8.—Ground plan of Green Corn Dance. 


these camps, except that the Bird camp has been closest to the dance 
circle and tchoc-ko thloc-ko at each of the Cow Creek dances I have 
attended, probably because the Medicine Man, who is a Tiger, lives 
in the Bird camp, since his wife belongs to that clan. 

Smaller clans camp with the smaller Deer and Little Bird clans; 
visitors from the Tamiami Trail and Big Cypress camp with the corre- 
sponding Cow Creek clans. In 1946, however, there were so many 


180 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Burn, 151 


Q 
Ug f° aes 
8 
Seo ae 
o q S LITTLE BIRD 
B/RD CLAN 


ee 
++ | ene 3 \ a. 
| 93 


T/GER CLAN 
1936 
Seyi 
Ae 
OY 
TIGER 
CLAN 
, , BALL POLE S OQ 
od 
ooo NS JE eg 
BIG CYPRESS OEER 
TRAIL VISITORS CLAN 
O : iS UO e 
ox of 
q 0% 
LITTLE N EIRD 
BIRO CLAN | CLAN 
1946 


FicurE 9.—Arrangement of clan camps. 


visitors from the Miccosuki groups that a separate camp was estab- 
lished for them. Diagrams of the arrangements for three separate 
dance locations are shown herewith (figs 9 and 10). Since the floors 
and poles are permanent, the arrangement made when a new ground 
is first put to use is maintained until that location is abandoned. 


Serangtet FLORIDA SEMINOLE—CAPRON 181 


LIT TEE 
8/RD CLAN 7/GER 
CLAN 
BALL POLE 
o—. 


0 
St? y 
Ss | 
DEER 
CLAN 1948 


Figure 10.—Arrangement of clan camps. 


The arrangement in each clan camp is the same as that in a perma- 
nent village. The houses are in a circle around a floorless cooking 
shack which is thatched. This is used in turn by the various families. 
Visitors put up temporary shelters in an outer circle on the side away 
from the dance circle. These shelters are like the regular Seminole 
hunting camps—low canvas roofs with palmetto fans spread on the 
floor and a cloth over them. 


182 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Buuy. 151 


THE DANCE GROUND 


The first thing done at the Green Corn Dance is to put the camps 
in shape and prepare the dance ground. Usually the dance is held 
where it was the year before, so there is little heavy work to do. 
Structures of the year before are put in repair and the dance circle is 
cleared of grass and weeds. 

The dance track is about 10 feet wide and 40 feet in diameter, 
outside measurement. In the center of this is the dance fire. This 
is 0-pon-ga (dance) en-tot-ka (fire) (Cow Creek); tal-lil-wee (dance) 
yo-ka-hee or ee-mee-tee (fire) (Miccosuki). On one side, just outside 
the circle, is the ball-game pole—ko-ka (ball) a-pee (pole) (Miccosuki). 
This is a tall pine sapling 20 to 25 feet high, trimmed of branches but 
with the plume left at the top. From about 4 to about 5 feet from 
the ground, this pole is squared and smoothed and on these flat sides 
score is kept with a piece of charcoal. This dance track is cleared, 
smoothed, and packed. 

Every evening about sunset there is a ball game between the boys 
and girls. This is played with a deerskin ball stuffed with deer hair. 
It is about 2% inches in diameter and roughly spherical. The object 
is to hit the pole with the thrown ball. To more nearly equalize 
things between the sexes, the boys have to catch or pick up the ball 
with a pair of rackets, while the girls may use their hands. These 
rackets are usually made of green laurel, flattened and doubled into a 
small loop about 4 inches across. _»The two ends of the strip are joined 
together to form a handle about 15 inches long. Two crossing thongs 
of rawhide close the loop. They are very similar to the rackets of the 
Cherokee. 

While this is the usual method of making the rackets, the Indians 
are ingenious at making substitutes. I watched one of the older 
Indians rise to the occasion shortly before the dance began. He took 
a green palmetto-leaf stem and trimmed out a long strip about 1 inch 
wide and % of an inch thick. He bent this at the middle around a 
- smooth log about 4% inches in diameter, forcing the flat sides of the 
ends together as far down toward the log as he possible could, and 
there he tied them together with cord. He left the strip on the log 
a short time to set, and then he slipped it off. He tied the extreme 
ends together. Then he punched holes in the bow with a nail and 
made his cross thongs of ordinary cord. It was not too permanent 
a job. One of the rackets came apart before the game was over that 
evening, but it put his son in most of the game. 

The game is pretty strenuous. The boys play the girls. The 
players divide into two groups with both boys and girls in each, and 
with the ball-game pole directly between them. The player holding 


A ROP. Pap. 
ak aaa FLORIDA SEMINOLE—CAPRON 183 


the ball throws it at the pole. As the usual result is a miss, it is 
caught by a player on the other side of the pole, who, in turn, throws 
it at the pole or passes it to a team member who is in a better position 
to score. ‘The ball crosses from side to side of the pole until the pole 
is hit, and a score is registered for the side (boy or girl) to which the 
player who threw the hit belongs. There is nothing restrained or 
formal about the game. It is full-blooded, unrestrained fun. There 
is feinting and blocking and efforts by the girls to wrest the ball from 
the boys. The girls run and tumble about with suprising agility 
despite their long skirts. 

As dusk approaches the ball game ends, and the girls go back 
to the camps. Some of the men have been sitting in the tchoc-ko 
thloc-ko watching the ball game or talking. At all times the tchoc-ko 
thloc-ko is a clubhouse for the men—a place common to all the 
clans, where the men may sit and talk. It is at all times taboo 
to the women and so is the dance ground itself. They can only be 
on the dance ground when they are actively dancing or playing ball. 
Following the ball game, the dance circle is swept with long branches 
and the fire started. 


HELPERS WITH THE MEDICINE 


This sweeping is done by two young men who have a very important 
part in the Green Corn Dance ritual. They are the Medicine Man’s 
“Helpers.” They are not to be confused with the ‘Assistant’ or 
‘Assistants,’ who are older men, already proficient with the Medicine, 
and who are within one step of being Medicine Men themselves. 
These young men are known as hi-leesh put-cha-chee (Medicine 
Man’s) ma-na-cha (Helpers) (Cow Creek); ai-yicks-chee (medicine) 
in-da-hus-kee (servant); or ai-yicks-chee (medicine) ho-po-yee (look 
for) (Miccosuki). They usually have a present intention to become 
Medicine Men, but they are only at the beginning of a long, hard 
road. Their duties are manifold. They act as police to maintain 
order, to escort unauthorized persons from forbidden places, and in 
general, to carry out the orders of the officials. It is their job to 
find the different herbs that go into the three Black Drinks. They 
will prepare the two cold Black Drinks the morning of Court Day 
and on the final morning they will bring to the Medicine Fire any 
laggards or evaders for the scratching. 

With the coming of dark, the dance fire is built up and the dancing 
begins. It is in charge of a “dance boss,’ 0-pon-ga ma-noi-ya 
(Cow Creek); tal-lil-wee sin-ka-pa-ta-ni (Miccosuki). He does not 
dance himself, but he determines what dances shall be danced, who 


shall lead each dance, and orders people who are not dancing into 
909871—52—13 


184 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bunn 151 


the dance. He does this by a running fire of conversation punctuated 
by staccato and explosive ejaculations of “Staos!’’ which corresponds 
to ‘Ladies and Gentlemen.’’ He also whips up the dance if it seems 
to lag. If a dance boss fails to get results, he is replaced by another. 

When the kind of dance has been decided, the leader takes his 
place in front and to the right of the tchoc-ko thloc-ko facing east. 
Other men and boys who are to start the dance, take their position 
in a line to his left, also facing east. The leader starts the dance 
song, usually keeping time with a rattle. He sings a phrase and this 
is repeated by the others. Then he turns to the right and begins 
the dance, counterclockwise around the circle. Now the women, 
who have been sitting out in the palmettos, begin to come in and 
take their places beside the men, to the men’s right, on the side 
away from the fire, and soon the dozens of rattles on the women’s 
legs give loud cadence to the dance. 


TIN-CAN RATTLES 


The rattle of the Seminole Indian of today is one of his few conces- 
sions to the White civilization by which he is surrounded but by no 
means engulfed. The turtle-shell rattle, the coconut-shell rattle, and 
the deer hoofs that used to be tied to the women’s legs to make the 
dance cadence are no more, or are seen only occasionally. The 
evaporated-milk can makes a much more satisfactory noise and is 
universally used. In its original function, the Indian has punched 
two holes opposite each other in the top, one to pour from, the other 
to admit air to make the pouring regular. When the can is emptied 
of milk, it is punched full of nail holes, sometimes in a regular design, 
sometimes hit or miss. It is cleaned, the paper taken off, and beads 
or the seeds of the wild canna inserted through the two original holes 
in the top. The metal which has been turned back from these, is 
now pulled out again to keep the beads from coming out, and the 
Indian has a rattle with far more zip than anything he originally 
took from nature. 

Some 12 or 16 of these can rattles are tied together, and, with a 
burlap pad to keep them from chafing, a whole bundle of this kind 
is tied to each calf of a woman dancer’s leg. Beneath her long skirt 
they are quite invisible, but as she walks there is a continual rustling. 
Once she starts to dance, however, she controls the sound with 
rhythmic jerks of her leg and the result gives a terrific beat to the 
dance. 

The women’s rattles are more likely to have the harder beads, and 
there are fewer of them. This makes for a higher, sharper tone. 
It also means the weight is considerably less, which is an important 


ANTHROP. PAP. 
con FLORIDA SEMINOLE—CAPRON 185 


consideration when so many are worn. The men’s rattles are about 
a third full of the seeds and give a rather prolonged “shuck’’ sound. 

Each of the men carries a small palmetto fan in his left hand, the 
hand toward the fire. This is a palmetto frond cut down to a fan 
about 9 or 10 inches across. He holds this steadily between his face 
and the fire. If an onlooker is holding one of these fans in his hand, 
it gives the dance boss the privilege of ordering him to dance and he 
cannot refuse. 

If the dance leader is using a rattle, he holds it in his right hand 
and beats with it at, but not touching, his left hand, which is held 
cupped in front of him. This is still the position and action of the 
rattle during the active dancing. When each movement of the 
dance is finished, however, he lifts the rattle high above his head and 
shakes it vigorously. At the same time he stops and the line stops 
behind him, the men giving shrill yips. They rest for a minute 
standing in line, and then the dance is resumed, the leader taking up 
again with his rattle, starting the chant again and resuming the dance 
step. The end of the dance is signaled in the same way, but the 
leader, instead of standing, walks away. The men go back to the 
tchoc-ko thloc-ko and the women to their groups in the palmettos. 

These groups are seated on the ground just off the path from each 
clan camp to the dance ground, and about two-thirds of the way 
from the camp to the dance ground. Here they sit and chat and 
smoke cigarettes and watch the dancing when they are not dancing 
themselves. If mothers have small children who cannot be left alone 
in camp, they are put to sleep under muslin canopies stretched in the 
palmettos. This is particularly true the last night when the dancing 
goes on all night. 

If the dance or the dance song is complicated, special instructions 
are given before the dance starts. This, for example would be the 
procedure when the Green Corn Dance itself is danced the first time 
the evening of Court Day. East of the dance fire but within the dance 
circle, is a large log about 4 feet long. The dance leader, one of the 
older, experienced men, seats himself on this log with his rattle. 
The dancers, instead of forming in front of the tchoc-ko thloc-ko, 
form on the opposite side of the dance circle facing him. The women, 
in this case, come in from the palmettos and join the dance before 
it starts. When the dancers have been instructed, the leader from 
his seat starts the cadence with his rattle and the chant with his 
voice. When the end of the movement comes, he signals the stop- 
ping point when the leading end of the dancing group is in front of 
him. He now instructs for the next movement and that is danced, 
and so on until the dance is ended. 


186 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY (Bunn. 151 


THE DANCES 


All the dances up to midnight of the last night are ‘‘fun’’ dances 
and have no ritualistic significance. There may be an exception 
in the Feather Dance, when that is danced every few years on Court 
Day. Josie Billy, however, has assured me the purpose of the 
Feather Dance is to keep the men awake on a day of significant 
fasting and purification. The formality of the preparation for this 
dance inclines me to believe there is much more to it than that. 

The fundamental dance that runs through each evening of danc- 
ing and accounts for more than half the numbers, is called‘‘just dance.” 
For the men, it is the characteristic double step of the Indian dance, 
which can be whipped up into a stomp by the dance boss. The song 
seems to be left largely to the discretion of the leader. He makes it 
up as he goes along. Since it is fundamentally simple, the younger 
men often lead it, leaving the more intricate dances to the elders. 

Most of the dances are nature dances, based on the actions of some 
animal with which they are familiar. Their favorite of all dances 
is the Catfish Dance, in the characteristic phase of which the arm from 
the elbow makes circles like a wheel, in imitation of the catfish’s fins, 
as the Indian man curls out from the line and makes a close circle to 
the right. 

The Alligator Dance is similarly spectacular. At a certain point 
and while dancing, everyone suddenly faces to the right, and the men 
take the women by the shoulders and sway them back and forth. 
Both ranks then face completely about and the women take the men 
by the shoulders and sway them back and forth. The undulating line 
of dancers looks uncannily like a writhing alligator. 

The Buffalo Dance I have seen danced always in the afternoon. In 
this dance the imitative work is done by the leader. The best leader 
of this dance, in my opinion, is the Medicine Man himself, Sam Jones. 
Years ago, when I saw him lead it, he held a small tom-tom in the 
crotch of his left arm against his body and beat it with a small padded 
stick. For much of the dance he danced backward, beating out the 
rhythm with the tom-tom, pawing the ground, snorting, and tossing 
his head. This is the only dance in which I have seen a tom-tom used. 
On one occasion, one of the Trail Indians left the dance ground during 
the dance and came back with his rifle, which he fired in the air at 
intervals during the rest of the dance. 

Another favorite is the Steal Dance, in which one of the boys 
dancing in the rear of the line, sneaks swiftly up to the front of the 
line, seizes one of the girls by the arm, and dashes back to join the 
dance again with his new partner. The one now bereft then steals a 
partner of hisown. Another is the Gun Dance in which the character- 


AeEEeE eae. FLORIDA SEMINOLE—CAPRON 187 


istic action is aiming and firing a gun. Among other dances are the 
Woodpecker Dance, the Screech Owl Dance, the Quail Dance, and 
the Chicken Dance. 

The Medicine Man does not dance in the evening dances. He does 
dance in the afternoon, as leader and to instruct. Very often in the 
afternoon, one of the older Indians will be teaching the children one 
of the dances. Children as young as 6 or 7 years take part in the 
evening dances, and even younger children take part in the afternoon, 
learning the dances. 

The Medicine Man usually sits on the back log in the tchoc-ko 
thloc-ko, leaning against one of the uprights. Others of the older 
men sit in the tchoc-ko thloc-ko and on the log adjacent to it, or logs, 
if there are more than one, and the male dancers return to it between 
dances. The Dance Boss is on his feet most of the time. He does not 
dance himself. He may hold a switch or stick as a mark of authority. 
He often throws logs on the fire, though this is the particular job of the 
helpers. 

There is naturally more or less passing to and fro along the paths 
that lead through the palmettos between the dance ground and the 
clan camps. With a moon so new, the nights are dark, but the 
Indians rarely carry a light. The light from the dance fire is a great 
help, especially when going in that direction. For the rest, after a 
little while you have an instinctive idea of where the path is. 
Apropos of this, I was walking with one of the Indians along one of 
the paths, when he made this trenchant comment, ‘“‘Not walk so fast, 
snake not hit you.” Needless to say, my progress from then on was 
very sedate, although I have never heard of an Indian being “hit” 
under these circumstances. 

The dancing usually lasts 2 or 3 hours on ordinary nights, and 
then the last die-hards go back to the camps, the last bed canopies 
go up and the last lanterns go out, the fires die down, and the life of 
the camps is frozen in sleep. Only the dogs in a mad, yelping pack 
race from camp to camp; the little night frogs whistle; and now and 
then a screech owl’s tremulo breaks the night. 

It is a never-to-be-forgotten sight—the Green Corn Dance grounds 
at night. In the camps, the huts, gray-walled with the bed canopies, 
are motionless, silent and ghostlike in the almost-dark. Yet you 
know that life is there behind the sheerest of walls. You know it is 
there from the occasional cry of a child and the low, quieting murmur 
of the mother. Down at the dance ground the dying dance fire sends 
up a momentary Vesusius of sparks as a log falls apart, and above 
are the diamond-bright stars of the incredible Florida night. 


188 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLy. 151 


PICNIC DAY 


Picnic Day is the first break in the routine. This is the big feast 
day for which the Medicine Man provides the meat. Probably in the 
old days, he killed three or four deer. Today he buys one or two 
beefs, kills and butchers them himself, and divides the meat among 
the different camps. He is helped in this by contributions. 

Picnic Day is also the time for new thatching on the tchoc-ko 
thloc-ko and new plumes of pine or new green branches at the corners. 
Pine plumes were the decoration when I first went to the Green Corn 
Dance. Today the tchoc-ko thloc-ko roof is edged with sweet bay. 
Picnic Day is a day of feasting against the morrow when no man may 
eat. All day long food is brought to the tchoc-ko thloc-ko and the 
men gorge themselves. All day long there are pans and kettles full 
on the ground between the log seats, and these are replenished as 
they are emptied. Women of all the camps and families keep up the 
supply indiscriminately. But still the taboo against the women is 
maintained. They may not come on the dance ground or into the 
tchoc-ko thloc-ko. They bring the food down to the dance ground 
and leave it there at the edge. It is brought in by the men. The 
women stand outside and indicate which of the empty dishes belong 
to them, and the dishes are handed out by the men for replenishing. 

Dancing on Picnic Day lasts until full midnight. When the men 
are not dancing, they are eating, and the efforts of some of the men 
to get the last mouthfuls of food and the women to get the empty 
dishes when the day’s dance is over, almost results in a tug of war. 
Then the camp settles down for the night. The preliminaries are 
over. The serious business of the Green Corn Dance will begin in 
the morning. 

COURT DAY 


Court Day dawns. The first gray in the east shows about 5 o’clock 
at this season of the year. Withit, the Medicine Man is up and about. 
He alerts his assistant or assistants. ‘The Miccosuki name is ka-a- 
pox-shee (tomorrow) ee-ma-shat-see or ee-ma-shwa (stay with) (or 
stay with all night). At the present time, Sam Jones’ three brothers 
all act as his assistants to a greater or less degree. For a great many 
years, Oscar Hoe was the principal and, at times, the only assistant. 
It was generally understood that he would be next to have the Medi- 
cine Bundle. The last couple of years, though, Frank Shore, another 
brother, has taken the most prominent part, and it is expected now 
that he will be the next Medicine Man. Charlie Micco has played 
a minor role. One or two of these brothers will sit beside Sam Jones 
behind the Medicine fire all night of Court Day—hence the name 
“stay with all night.” 


Anreneray A. FLORIDA SEMINOLE—CAPRON 189 


The three men, Frank Shore, Sam Jones, and Oscar Hoe, with the 
Medicine Man in the middle, walk abreast from the Bird Clan camp 
to the dance ground, across it and on, approximately 175 yards to 
the marsh, where they strip and bathe, facing the east, and the 
Medicine Man rubs the water on his body and sings the song asking 
sa-kee tom-mas-see to keep the medicine from harming him, and to 
let him use it for the good of the Indians. They resume their clothes, 
and the assistant (in this case, Frank Shore) goes on to the east and 
out of sight, taking with him an empty deerskin. He has gone for 
the Medicine Bundle. The other two return to camp. 

In the meantime, the two boys—the Medicine Man’s helpers— 
are beginning the preparation of the two morning Black Drinks. 
The ingredients have already been assembled and are under palmetto 
leaves to the northeast of the dance circle. The first of these is 
pa-sa (Creek) or pa-see (Miccosuki). This is Eryngium synchaetum, 
the button snakeroot. This herb is used by the Seminole in many 
ways. It is a heart medicine, and is also used by the Medicine Man 
in his treatment of a criminal who has been outlawed and wishes to 
regain his normal place in the tribe. It is used by the Medicine Man 
to insure life. That is, if anyone will eat three roots given him by the 
Medicine Man with appropriate ceremonies, he will not die within 5 
years. This plant has been brought in whole in bundles, the stem with 
attached leaves and fruit, roots, and tubers. The tubers are cut off 
with a hatchet and chopped up. They are put in a pot with cold 
water, the cold infusion making the first Black Drink. 

This made, they start the second Black Drink, made of a cold 
infusion of the inner bark of the willow, Salix amphibia. The Cow 
Creeks call this black drink, ac-wa-nah; the Miccosuki, o-kee box-see 
(medicine water). The willow is brought to the dance ground in 
the form of a green log about 3} feet long and about 6 inches in diam- 
eter. The outer bark is first removed from almost all of the log in long, 
narrow strips. Then the inner bark is taken off in long, narrow 
strips and the pot is lined with these, placed vertically around the 
inside. Then water is poured in and allowed to stand. 

Prayers are blown in this Black Drink, but not in the first one of 
button snakeroot. This is done through a hollow reed about 3 feet 
long. Any hollow stem may be used but usually it is that of the 
cattail. This is wound with three strips of red cloth, one at the end 
and two others equidistant up the stem, but leaving about 6 inches 
at the mouth end unwound. 

Ideas differ as to the meaning of this red cloth. One Indian said 
to me, ‘Some people think it means ‘Red People’ but I think it means 
‘blood.’”? He was probably right. One of the Medicine Men assured 
me it is to make the Black Drink prevent “female diseases.” Of 


190 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLy. 151 


course it is not to prevent “female diseases” in women, because they 
do not take the Black Drink. It is to prevent ‘‘female diseases’ 
in men. 

With the Seminole, blood is associated with women because of their 
menses. For example, when a friend of mine had a bloody flux, the 
Medicine Man told him he had a woman’s disease and would have 
to be treated by the old women. He went back to the old home camp 
and his mother doctored him. Thus the old women doctor all female 
diseases when they are suffered by either men or women, and the 
Medicine Man or the plain ‘‘doctor” treats both men and women for 
all regular diseases. Herein is also the reason that the women do not 
have to go through the purification ceremonies as the men do. They 
purify themselves every month. 

The Medicine Man’s assistant (in this case, Oscar Hoe) stands by 
the two helpers. He also blows prayers in the Black Drink. And so 
may the Medicine Man. Josie Billy, former Medicine Man from the 
Trail, told me he named over each part of the body and blew the 
name into the Black Drink; when the Indian rubs it over each part 
it will be a preventative for anything affecting that part. The Medi- 
cine Man himself stands where he can watch the preparation of the 
two Black Drinks and sees that it is done correctly. 

Once you have seen a stripped willow log that has been used to make 
medicine, you cannot mistake it. Once, leaving one of the Big Cypress 
camps, I came on sucha log. [I held it up and called back, ‘‘You been 
making Medicine?” ‘They nodded, ‘‘Yes.”’ I mentioned it in another 
camp a little later. ‘“That’s right,” I was told. ‘Jes’ been a baby 
born that camp.”’ So, obviously, the “medicine water’’ is used in 
childbirth. 

An important point for the Medicine Man’s assistants and helpers 
is, when they turn around, always to turn to the left. ‘Always got 
to turn around one way. Turn like this [turns to left]. If they turn 
around like this [turns to right], maybe make everybody crazy. 
es-te-fas-ta watchin’ all the time. See ’em turn like this [turns to 
right], say, ‘All right, make everybody crazy’ [sweeps his hand]. 

“Dance same way. Always dance one way around fire, Big Country 
in North, Little Country in South. Always dance from Big Country 
to Little Country.”” This results, of course, in the dancers and the 
dance line continually turning to the left about the fire. 


THE MEDICINE BUNDLE 


In the meantime the Medicine Man’s other brother, Frank Shore, 
the next-to-be Medicine Man, has come back onto the dance ground. 
He has the Medicine Bundle. It is in the deerskin, folded loosely 
over into a covered basket form, the legs, crossed and tied, making 


ao eae FLORIDA SEMINOLE—CAPRON 191 


the handle. And Frank Shore is carrying it by this handle. I have 
seen Sam Jones, the Medicine Man, himself bring in the Medicine in 
a tight bundle, clasping it in his arms. That was years ago. Now 
he has a successor nearly ready and turns more duties over to him. 

The Medicine Bundle is put down just off the dance circle, directly 
to the east. The Medicine Man’s assistant (or the Medicine Man) 
squats down in front of it facing east, and begins to examine the differ- 
ent packages it contains. In each case, the buckskin thong must be 
unwound; the buckskin package opened; the Medicine examined; the 
package closed, rewound with the thong, and placed in a deerskin. 
There is a transfer here from the Bundle to another deerskin. 

At this point the actors are disposed as follows: To the northeast of 
the dance circle the two helpers and one of the Medicine Man’s 
assistants are making the two Black Drinks. To the east of the 
dance circle, the Medicine Man’s other assistant is examining the 
Medicine in the Bundle. The Medicine Man himself stands between 
the two groups. There are a number of men in the tchoc-ko thloc-ko; 
some have gone down to the marsh to bathe; some are standing by one 
or the other of the Medicine groups watching. 

Now the Medicine Man goes over to the assistant who is going over 
the Medicine, squats down beside him on his left and begins to go 
over the Medicine with him. 

When the two helpers and the assistant who have been making 
the two Black Drinks finish, they spread palmetto fans just off the 
dance circle where they have been working, and put on them the pots 
of Black Drink and several cups which they have thoroughly washed. 

When the Medicine Man and his other assistant finish going over 
the packages of Medicine, the deerskin is folded in loosely, hair side 
out, and the legs tied again to make a handle. A 6-inch branch of 
wood about 6 feet long with a fork near the top, is worked into the 
ground until it is firmly set. In 1949, the forked stick from the previ- 
ous year was still in place. It was worked in more firmly, however, 
and braced with stones and a log. The Medicine Bundle is hung on 
the fork, where it will remain until evening. The Medicine is “‘out.” 

It is now about 6 o’clock and the first phase is over. 


SCRATCHING THE BOYS 


While the men must fast from the midnight that ends Picnic Day 
to the end of the ceremonies at sunrise the second day following 
(approximately 30 hours), the small boys are not expected to. They 
come down to the dance ground and each is given a plant of pa-sa. 
He takes this back to camp and makes his own Black Drink. This he 
rubs over his body; an older man gives him a token scratching with 
needles, and he can eat. 


192 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL 151 


All males must be scratched. This purifies the blood and protects 
the Indian from blood poison during the year to come. The men are 
scratched thoroughly and purposefully. Probably it was done in the 
first place with animal claws or snake fangs because each stroke leaves 
several parallel marks as though an animal had done the scratching. 
When I first knew about it, it was done with ordinary steel sewing 
needles held between the thumb and first finger. Three were as many 
as most men could manage, but an expert could hold four. Today 
these needles are run through a little block of wood, and there may be 
six. Greenlee heard of teeth of garfish set in bone being used, but I 
have never seen or heard of it otherwise. 

Most of the men will be scratched the next morning, but a man can 
be scratched on Court Day, particularly if he cannot be there the 
next day. 

The boy babies are scratched at the tchoc-ko thloc-ko, and several 
of the older men, including the Medicine Man and his assistants 
officiate. The mothers bring their children down from the clan camps 
and wait out in the palmettos, since the dance ground and tchoc-ko 
thloc-ko are taboo to them. The younger men go out and bring the 
children in. Babies in arms they carry, but the toddlers are led in 
by the hand. The scratching of the children is very light. ‘Just 
scratch a little bit,’’ said Sam Jones, speaking of the babies, and he 
traced a minute cross on the back of his hand. As soon as a child can 
walk, he is scratched on the foot also. The children cry vociferously, 
but it is more from fright than hurt, because once a child is put down 
he shuts up like a faucet and toddles happily about. Once scratched, 
the children are returned to their mothers and taken back to camp. ° 

The older boys, those old enough to take part in the dancing, are 
scratched as completely as the men, but not as deeply. By this time 
the boy’s pride has developed to the point that he is ashamed to show 
hurt or fear. He walks boldly up to the scratching and takes it like 
the man he considers himself. One of John Osceola’s grandchildren, 
a youngster of about 5, was playing with his grandfather when I 
visited the camp in September. I asked the boy if he had been to the 
Green Corn Dance, which had been in early July. His grandfather 
answered by pushing back his sleeve and showing the scratch marks 
on his arm. Incidentally, you can always tell, for several months 
thereafter, when a Seminole has been to the Green Corn Dance. The 
scratch marks will show below his sleeve. 

The incident above illustrates another phase of Seminole life, the 
affection for children. Men will play for an hour at a time with a 
child or grandchild and never seem annoyed to have children about. 


Sa FLORIDA SEMINOLE—CAPRON 193 


THE FEATHER DANCE 


Every 3 or 4 years, at least, the Feather Dance is danced. One 
Indian told me he thought it started as an effort of the Bird Clan to 
make their clan totem a god. Josie Billy, the former Medicine Man, 
insisists that it has no significance, that it is merely a ‘‘Day Dance” 
like the Buffalo Dance, and that its purpose is to keep the men awake, 
who, otherwise, would tend to sleep all day. 

However, it differs from the Buffalo Dance in several respects. The 
Buffalo Dance is danced several times during the Green Corn Dance 
every year. The Feather Dance is not danced every year, but it must 
not be allowed to go 4 years without being danced. The Buffalo 
Dance is informal and is danced casually. ‘The Feather Dance is very 
formal, is danced according to a rigid pattern, and is full of ritual. 
It is difficult, exhausting, and an extremely long dance. It does not 
seem possible that such effort would be expended merely to keep the 
men awake. And if so, why isn’t it danced every year? 

Whenever I have seen the Feather Dance danced, Nahaw Tiger has 
been dance director. Usually the bird, a white heron, is killed and 
brought in the day before. In 1949, however, the Medicine Man told 
me the evening before there would be no Feather Dance the next day 
because the boys had not been able to killa bird. Later in the evening 
I was told there would be a Feather Dance—that the boys were going 
out first thing in the morning to get a bird. Finally, Nahaw Tiger 
stood up in the tchoc-ko thloc-ko late in the evening of Picnic Day 
and announced in a long and formal speech that the Feather Dance 
would be danced the next day. 

Jack Smith, one of the young men, went down to bathe with the 
Medicine Man’s party the first thing the morning of Court Day. Later 
he went out of camp with something round done up in a white cloth 
over his shoulder. About half an hour later he came back carrying a 
Ward’s heron by the neck. ‘‘Couldn’t get a white bird,” the Indians 
explained. ‘He got a gray one.” He had shot it, but he did not 
take a gun with him, nor did he have one when he came back. The 
heron was hung by a cord about its neck to the southeast corner of 
the tchoc-ko thloc-ko. 

At this point a deerskin tanned with the hair on was necessary, but 
none had been provided nor was there one in any of the camps. So 
four of us drove 20 miles to Tom Smith’s camp and got one. When 
we came back, the heron had been moved to the center of the east side 
of the tchoc-ko thloc-ko. The deerskin is spread, hair side down, in 
front of the center of the tchoc-ko thloc-ko. The heron is taken down 
and put on it. Now one of the men begins to pluck some of the 
medium-sized feathers of the bird. 


194 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Buty. 151 


In the meantime some sixty saplings about 10 feet long have been 
chopped off roughly and trimmed of leaves. One or two feathers are 
tied loosely to the small end of each of these and the butts are trimmed. 
They are leaned against the tchoc-ko thloc-ko. 

The neck of the heron is skinned up to the head and the head is cut, 
off with the neck skin attached. This is run on a pole about 6 feet 
long. The body of the heron remains on the deerskin for some time, 
but finally it is taken up and thrown on top of the tchoc-ko thloc-ko. 

Just before 10 o’clock, Eli Morgan and Frank Shore sweep the 
dance path with long leafy branches which are then thrown on top of 
the tchoc-ko thloc-ko. Shortly after 10 o’clock, Nahaw Tiger takes 
the pole with the heron’s neck and head and, holding it in front of 
him with both hands, vertically, with the beak to the front, he ad- 
vances from the tchoc-ko thloc-ko east across the dance circle to the 
far side. He stands there, holding the pole before him and gives four, 
loud, spaced whoops. Then he returns to the tchoc-ko thloc-ko. He 
repeats this at 5-minute intervals until he has done it four times. 
Sometimes he is answered by whoops from the distant camps. 

Almost immediately after the last call, the men begin to line up in 
front of the tchoc-ko thloc-ko for the dance. Two men divide the 
bundle of poles with the fluttering feathers. The pole with the 
heron’s head is in one bundle. They are the men who have earlier 
swept the dance floor, Eli Morgan and Frank Shore. Each carries his 
bundle of poles under his arm and gives one to each dancer as he joins 
the dance. Only the men dance. 

The dance in 1946 was led by Sam Jones and Oscar Hoe, the 
Medicine Man and his assistant. In 1949, it was led by Frank 
Tommie and George Osceola, neither of whom has any official posi- 
tion. The two leaders stand facing the tchoc-ko thloc-ko at the south 
corner, one behind the other. The dancers line up in two ranks te 
the north. 

The two leaders now face to the south and Frank Tommie (Sam 
Jones, in 1946) intones a chant, the two leaders beating with their 
rattles against the palms of their left hands for the rhythm, and the 
dancers repeating each phrase as it is finished. The leaders, followed 
by the double rank of dancers, slowly dance to the south position, the 
two men with the extra poles bringing up the rear. Here the two 
leaders raise their rattles above their heads and shake them, slowly 
turning in their tracks until they are facing the dancers. The whole 
line is marking time. The two leaders bring their rattles down again, 
beating them as before and Frank Tommie goes on with the song, the 
line holding its place and marking time. 

The dancers are holding their poles vertically in their outside arms, 
the outside dancers, in their right arms; the inside, in their left. The 


wae FLORIDA SEMINOLE—CAPRON 195 


women are watching from the edge of the camps, sitting on the nearest 
floors or in the palmettos. They, of course, cannot come on the dance 
ground. They seem to show more interest in this dance than in any 
other phase of the ceremonies. 

The line, with the two leaders facing backward and everyone 
marking time, continues in the south position until the song is 
finished, which is indicated by the leaders raising their rattles above 
their heads and shaking them. There are several shrill whoops from 
the dancers. Then the leaders face about, start the song again and 
lead the dancers to the east point of the dance circle. Here they face 
about again, the line marks time, and the whole procedure is repeated. 
The dancers tour the four cardinal points of the compass four times, 
ending at the west. 

Now a change takes place. Frank Tommie leaves his position 
beside George Osceola at the head of the line and goes and stands at 
the south position facing back at the dancers who are held marking 
time at the west position. He shakes his rattle and the line, led by 
George Osceola, dances slowly toward him. When it reaches him, 
George Osceola takes his place beside him, but the double line does 
not stop. It divides and passes the two leaders. Then each line 
turns in, one inside the other, and they both circle the leaders and 
dance back in the direction from which they have come. About 
halfway back to the west position the lines again turn in on themselves 
and dance toward the two leaders. When the lines reach the leaders 
the rattles are shaken in the air and the movement ends with staccato 
whoops. This is repeated at each of the cardinal positions and the 
dance is over. It has lasted about 40 minutes. 

The Feather Dance is danced four times in the course of the day. 
In 1946, it was danced at approximately 9 and 10 in the morning 
and twice in the afternoon. In 1949, owing to the delay in getting 
the bird and lack of preparation because of the uncertainty, the morn- 
ing dances were delayed about an hour. 


THE BLACK DRINKS 


The taking of the Black Drinks follows the first dancing of the 
Feather Dance. Both infusions are drunk and both are rubbed on 
all parts of the body. Both are powerful emetics, so the system is 
completely emptied. This effect, however, does not take place in 
public. The men always seem to be able to reach a spot of privacy. 
If there is no Feather Dance, as is usually the case, the Black Drinks 
are taken earlier. 

About noon is the big public meeting at the tchoc-ko thloc-ko. At 
all times during the Green Corn Dance, especially the last 2 days, 
there are men at the tchoc-ko thloc-ko. It is sort of a clubhouse where 


196 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY (BULL. 151 


the men of all clans meet. At the big noon meeting on Court Day, 
however, all the men are present. The three or four elders who 
govern the group are all in the tchoc-ko thloc-ko. Others are sitting 
on the logs, and those for whom there is no more room, are standing 
by. All males are present even to small boys. 


CRIME AND THE COURT 


It is at this time that charges are brought against anyone who has 
committed a crime. The Seminole attitude toward crime is re- 
markably advanced. Briefly their attitude is this. It is to a man’s 
advantage to belong to a social group, but he must pay for that 
advantage by conforming to the laws of that group. These laws are 
for the good of thegroup and therefore for the good of each individual 
of that group. And if a man breaks those laws he is acting against 
his own good. Therefore that man is not vicious—he is crazy. 

Now aman who is crazy is a menace to the group. If, for example, 
he were to take the Black Drink with them, others might catch his 
craziness. He is, therefore, excluded from all rituals and ceremonies 
until such time as he may demonstrate that he has returned to a 
normal state of mind. No one forces him to his rehabilitation. It is 
a voluntary act on his part, and at any time he may withdraw. But 
in that case he remains an outlaw. 

If he decides to regain his membership in society, he puts himself 
in the hands of the Medicine Man who takes him to some solitary 
place and puts him through a series of tests to break down his anti- 
social tendencies and demonstrate that he is willing to conform again. 
For example, the Medicine Man offers him a root of pa-sa and says, 
“You want to eat this’? If he says ‘‘No,” the Medicine Man whips 
him. Then he says again, ‘‘You want to eat this’? If he says ‘‘No,” 
he is whipped again. This is continued until he takes the root 
willingly and eats it, or until he refuses to go on with the test. 

As another instance, the Medicine Man may prepare a little low 
hut and tell his patient to lie down in it and not move until he gets 
back. He goes away and may come back in 15 minutes or 3 days. 
He may even keep the man in the hut in sight all the time he is gone; 
but when the Medicine Man comes back, if there is any change of 
position or if he has seen the man move, the Medicine Man says, 
‘All right. You move. You come out.’’ And he whips him. But 
when at last the man obeys the Medicine Man in everything and 
without question, it is assumed that he has returned to sanity. He 
may now return to his normal life and take part in all the functions 
of the group. 

If a man commits a serious crime and by his attitude shows there 


AnnHnor. Pap. FLORIDA SEMINOLE—CAPRON 197 


is no chance of reform, he is outlawed and may be killed by anyone— 
red, white, or black—and there will be no retaliation by the Indians. 
Or he may be killed out of hand. Society must be protected from him. 

The incident of Charlie Emathla, just before the Seminole War 
flared in 1835, is an excellent example of this. The Government 
wanted the Indians to sell their cattle and move to Arkansas. The 
larger number of Indians, however, sparked particularly by Osceola 
and the young hotheads, had decided that no Indian must do it. 
If one did, he was promised a speedy and inevitable death. 

Charlie Emathla, one of the older Indians, and one who was in 
favor of conciliation, did sell his cattle and was bringing his people 
in for transfer to the West, when they were met on the road by a 
delegation headed by Osceola. Charlie Emathla was killed and his 
body left for the wolves. The money for his cattle, which was 
found tied in a dirty handkerchief, Osceola threw into the bushes 
with the statement that it represented Indian blood. Charlie Emath- 
la’s skeleton lay there for 2 years until it was finally buried by the 
Whites. No Indian would touch it. 

A recent case was that of Johnny Billy. He was executed by the 
tribe in 1938. On two different occasions, when drunk, he had killed 
a man. In each case the victim was a member of the Tiger Clan. 
Each time he was outlawed and turned over to the Tiger Clan for 
disposal. Both times the fact that he was drunk and not in possession 
of his senses was taken into consideration, and he was allowed to 
live because it was felt that he would reform and become a useful 
member of society; but he did not ask to be rehabilitated, and he 
remained an outlaw who could take no part in the ceremonies of the 
tribe. Finally, early in 1938, Johnny Billy beat a pregnant woman, 
and the Tiger Clan moved into action. The old men met and agreed 
that Johnny Billy had shown that he was now beyond the hope 
of reform and for the good of the tribe should be executed. This 
duty fell on the senior male member of the clan, John Osceola, 80 
years old and almost a helpless invalid. His son, Billy Osceola, 
took him out to Big Cypress to see Cufiney Tiger, who was then 
Medicine Man. He told the Medicine Man what the Tiger Clan 
had decided, and Cuffney Tiger gave him some special tobacco to 
smoke when the execution was over so he would not go crazy. You 
will go crazy if you kill a man under whatever conditions, unless you 
take proper precautions afterward. 

Jimmy Osceola now drove his father to the Musa Isle camp, where 
Johnny Billy was living. Jimmy helped his father out of the car, 
propped him against the car, and handed him his loaded shotgun. 
Then he went into the camp and summoned Johnny Billy. Johnny 
Billy knew well what was going to happen, but he walked straight 


198 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 151 


up to the old man and took the shotgun charge in his chest. Jimmy 
helped the old man back in the car and drove him home, leaving the 
body of Johnny Billy for the White man to bury. No Indian would 
touch it. 

John Osceola was driven home, where he sat on his chick-ee floor 
and smoked the Medicine tobacco, while members of the tribe brought 
him presents to show that they approved of what he had done. The 
White authorities took no action against John Osceola beyond a 
routine investigation that showed it was a case of tribal justice. 


STATE OF THE NATION 


Noon in the tchoc-ko thloc-ko on Court Day is also the time for 
formal discussion of problems that confront the group or the tribe. 
In 1946, for example, the subject that was vehemently discussed was a 
Creek Indian who had established himself at Dania as a missionary 
and was forbidding his converts to attend any tribal function. 

Discussions at this time are formal. The speaker starts with 
the traditional address, ‘‘Staos’’! (corresponding to ‘“‘Ladies and 
Gentlemen’’!) And his hearers signify agreement with an ejaculated 
eFiol Yor ves.’ 

Influential members of the other groups are usually present at 
each Green Corn Dance—often the Medicine Man himself—and 
their opinion is always sought. Thus the idea of each group is 
carried to the others and the groups are kept in agreement. 


COURT DAY AFTERNOON 


The afternoon of Court Day has a less rigid schedule. More of 
the two cold Black Drinks may be brewed and the older of the young 
boys take them at the dance ground, drinking them and rubbing 
them on their legs and arms. They may then be scratched at the 
tchoc-ko thloc-ko—but lightly—and then they may eat. The 30- 
hour fast is considered too long for them. 

The Feather Dance, if it is being danced that year, is danced twice 
in the afternoon. The Buffalo Dance is always danced. On Court 
Day afternoon it is quite usual to see one of the older men with a 
group of the very small children at the dance ground, teaching them 
one or the other of the dances. The children learn the dances early, 
and most of the day and early evening dances (except the Feather 
Dance) have youngsters of 4 or 5 bringing up the tail end. 

The men are likely to do quite a bit of sleeping in the afternoon 
when no official dancing is in progress. The women are doing some 
cooking, for they can eat, and they also prepare food for the boys who 
have completed their ritual. Between 4:30 and 6 in the evening, 


NO gore FLORIDA SEMINOLE—CAPRON 199 


the men march out with axes and begin chopping wood for the dance 
fire. Scattered here and there, not too far from the dance ground, 
are dead pines standing, and down timber, and these are chopped 
into lengths suitable for carrying. The men bring these in, marching 
single file and singing, their shoulders protected by palmetto fans. 
The Medicine Man stands by and directs the piling, sending them back 
for load after load until he thinks enough has been piled to the north 
of the dance fire, to last the full night of dancing. 

Sometimes the ball game is played before the wood is brought in, 
sometimes after. There seems to be no exact rule. The ball game 
usually starts with some of the boys gathering at the vacant dance 
ground and throwing the ball at the pole. They are joined by older 
boys with rackets who begin practicing. Then some of the smaller 
girls join in. Pretty soon soine of the older girls drift down from the 
clan camps. And before you know it, a full-fledged ball game is in 
progress with a scorekeeper standing by the pole and two mixed 
groups of boys and girls swinging around the pole and playing in 
deadly earnest. 

In the meantime, in the clan camps, the women are dressing for the 
big event—combing their hair over the great disks of cardboard in 
the current fashion, fixing their leg rattles, and putting on their newest 
and brightest finery. 

In the past 15 years there has been a marked decrease in the number 
of the older women who take part in the actual dancing. But itis very 
important for the young, marriageable girls to take part, both in the 
dancing and in the ball game. They are at their glamorous peak— 
the boys the most susceptible. And there is no question that the 
physical contact and excitement of the ball game is a matrimonial 
incentive. 

The older men, of course, are an essential part of the dance. With- 
out them it would be impossible. They know the routine, and the 
songs and it is necessary for one of them either to lead the dance or, 
in the case of the more intricate dances, to direct from a seat on the 
log to the east of the fire, between it and the dance path circle. More 
than anyone else, they realize the importance of taking part in the 
rituals, and there is always a good leavening of the older men in every 
dance. 

It is interesting to notice that in the years when there is a great 
predominance of young, inexperienced dancers, few of the difficult 
dances are called, and the program is an almost unbroken sequence of 
“Just Dance,” a dance of a simple double step with the song extem- 
poraneous on the part of the leader. 

Shortly before 7 o’clock the women in the clan camps have their 

909871—52——-14 


200 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLL. 151 


evening meal. Some of the men are in the tchoc-ko thloc-ko talking, 
others are in the camps sleeping or visiting. Some may even be 
undergoing the scratching, if they are unable to take part in the ritual 


the next morning. 
THE LAST NIGHT 


About twilight, the Medicine Man and his assistant begin preparing 
the place to the east of the dance circle where they will sit out the 
night. They clear off all grass, level the ground, and finally sweep it 
with branches. 

The poles for the sweat bath, two long, limber saplings, are brought 
in by the Medicine Man’s helpers unless they are available from the 
previous year. These are put down near the pole where the Medicine 
hangs. 

A fire is now laid for the Medicine Man. This is hil-eesh-wa 
(medicine) en-tot-ka (fire) (Creek) ; ai-yicks-chee (medicine) eet-ka-hee 
(fire) (Miccosuki). This Miccosuki radical for “‘fire’’ is used only for 
the Medicine Fire. The usual fire radical is ee-mee-tee. Four logs, 
one side round and one split off square, each about 3 feet long and 
6 inches in diameter, are laid parallel in front of the Medicine Man’s 
place, making a square. Kindlings of lightwood about half an inch 
thick are laid handy. 

In the meantime, the Medicine Man’s assistant has gone over to 
the Medicine Bundle. He stands in front of it about 2 feet away. 
The movement of his shoulders shows that he is lifting his hands 
repeatedly as though addressing the Medicine. He steps nearer and 
repeats his actions. Then he takes a little buckskin package out of 
the bundle and carries it over to the newly laid fire. It is the fire flint. 
It is opened and the boys proceed to start the fire with it. Suddenly 
there is a little column of smoke and then a spread. One of the boys 
fans it with his hat. Lightwood is added, and the Medicine Fire is 
going. The flint is done up again in its package and it is placed 
against the logs on the east side of the fire. 

The Medicine Man’s assistant goes back to the Medicine Bundle 
where it hangs on the stake, and stands about 3 feet in front of it. 
Every now and then he bows his head in a slow nod. His shoulders 
lift as though he were lifting his hands to his mouth. He turns and 
spits as though he were spitting out seeds or something. He steps 
nearer and repeats his actions. He seems to be either praying or 
addressing the Medicine. My impression is that he is doing the 
latter. He then lifts the Medicine Bundle off the stake and brings it 
to the fire, putting it about 4 feet east of the fire on a cloth that has 
been spread for it. 

The thong which was tied around the legs of the deerskin and by 
which it was hung on the stake is taken off and the deerskin gradually 


Ser yore ae. FLORIDA SEMINOLE—CAPRON 201 


opened, the Medicine Man’s assistant knecling in front of it and 
doing the opening, while the Medicine Man stands by. The fire- 
making stone is put back in. 

The assistant goes off in the direction of the camp of the Little 
Bird Clan. The Medicine Man opens the cloth he is holding. It is 
about 5 or 6 feet square, dark gray from use. He folds it over once 
and spreads it between the Medicine and the fire. It is for the 
Medicine Man and his assistants to sit on. He will sit there all night 
long between his two brothers. 

The Medicine Man’s assistant comes back from the Deer Clan 
camp, the opposite direction from that in which he left. He has made 
a round of the camps and has collected the private Medicine of various 
Indians in the camps. This is put, not in the deerskin, but just in 
front of it and against it. Each Medicine is in a little bundle. The 
tribal Medicine is now in the deerskin, half of which is on the ground 
and the other half turned over and covering the Medicine, the open 
side toward the fire. Later it will be covered with a small tarp, but 
lightly so that the deerskin and the bundles can be seen. 

The two helpers bring up white-enameled pails and put them on the 
dance circle side of the fire with cups to drink from. They also bring 
up some bundles of pa-sa and put them by the pails, and a handful of 
palmetto fronds and a prayer reed wound with red cloth. These are 
put on the dance-circle side of the fire with the pails and cups. 

The Medicine Man leaves the dance circle for a little time. When 
he returns he has another tarpaulin and a little white-cloth bag. My 
guess is that this is the “white root” * that comes from Oklahoma and 
is a necessary ingredient in the third Black Drink that is about to be 
mixed. ‘This is the one element that the helpers do not find, and ina 
moment they will bring up the rest of the ingredients. 

Nahaw Tiger and some of the others have come down to the dance 
ground from the clan camps with their private Medicine, and are 
standing by the Medicine Man’s fire. The helpers take this Medicine 
and put it with the other private Medicine against the Medicine 
Bundle. The Medicine Man puts all the private Medicine inside the 
Bundle and sits down. 

Now the helpers bring up the ingredients for the third Black Drink 
which they have previously collected. These are arranged against 
the logs of the Medicine Fire on the side toward the Medicine Man. 
They include willow roots, the inner bark of which will be used as in the 
earlier cold Black Drink, and pa-sa, from which Black Drink No. 1 
was made. 


3 From a recent description I had of this root I am sure it is ginseng.—L. C. 


202 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY (Burn. 154 


THE BIG POT DRINK 


This is the boiled Black Drink—ah-lish (pot) thloc-ko (big) ish- 
kee-ta (drink) (Cow Creek); ai-yicks (medicine) ta-na-kee-kee (all 
kinds together) (Miccosuki). It is the preventive medicine for most 
of the diseases to which the Indian is subject, with the emphasis on 
those which the Medicine Man thinks are the greatest menace that 
particular year. There are 14 or 15 different ingredients. These are 
gathered during the early days of the dance by the helpers, and the 
number used depends on their ability to find the proper herbs. Josie 
Billy, former Medicine Man, said that the boys now do not know all 
of them and don’t find them. 

This Black Drink boils until midnight and then it is taken four 
times. It isswallowed but must not be retained. If it does not come 
up naturally, the Indian must force himself to vomit. The last of 
this last Black Drink is emptied on the sweat-bath stones thenext morn- 
ing. Of course, many of the ingredients disintegrate in the boiling, 
but woody structures and some leaves persist. A classification of the 
ingredients left intact at the Cow Creek dance in 1949 showed six 
distinct shrubs, as follows: 

(1) St. John’s wort (Hypericum aspalathoides)—wee-ah-ko-chee (Cow Creek), 

a-posh-shee-ka-yee (Miccosuki). 

(2) Red bay (Persea borbonia)—too-la (Cow Creek), too-lee (Miccosuki). 

(3) Blueberry (Vaccinium myrsinites)—tsa-fuck-in-a (Cow Creek), o-luck-ee 

(Miccosuki). 

And three of the grape family: 

(4) Cissus sicyoides—chu-los sho-a-kee (Cow Creek), tsuk-ko-chee (Miccosuki). 

(5) Vitts rotundifolia—so-losh-ka (Cow Creek), tsuk-ko-chee (Miccosuki). 

(6) Vitis caribaea. 

Other medicines that may be used are: 

Sweet bay (Magnolia virginiana)—too-la hat-ka (Cow Creek), too-lat-kee 
(Miccosuki). (Note that both languages use the name for red bay plus the 
radical for white.) 

Rabbit tobacco (Plerocaulon undulatum). 

There is also used a root that does not grow in Florida but has 
to be brought from Oklahoma. It is known in each language as 
“White Medicine’”’—hil-eesh hat-kee (Cow Creek), ai-yicks hat-kee 
(Miccosuki). I am convinced this is ginseng. 


DANCE ALL NIGHT 


It is almost dark. The Medicine Man and his assistants are taking 
the earlier Black Drink from the pails and rubbing it on themselves; 
so are some of the other men. The Medicine Man and his two assist- 
ants go back of the Medicine Man’s fire and sit down. It is now about 
8 o’clock. A few minutes later the men go to the tchoc-ko thloc-ko and 
sit down. Shortly, the dance begins. 


coo FLORIDA SEMINOLE—CAPRON 203 


On this last night, the dancing will go on until morning. The 
Medicine Man has little sticks of wood, a little longer and a little 
thinner than match sticks. With these he keeps track of the dancing, 
sticking one in the ground for each dance and arranging them in 
orderly rows in front of him. By morning he has quite an array 
of them. 

Up to midnight, the dances are the usual “‘fun” dances. At midnight 
the boiled Black Drink is taken again and again until it has been 
taken four times. The effects are not visible, because they take place 
in the darkness back of the Medicine Man and to the east of the 
dance fire. At midnight the Green Corn Dance itself is danced for the 
first time. It is repeated several times before morning, interlarded 
with the various “fun” dances. 

This is the chant for the Green Corn Dance, sung for me in 1936 by 
Ben Tommie, whom I have seen lead it several times. Each line is 
sung first by the leader as he dances, and then repeated by the dancers: 


Song of the Green Corn Dance 


Yo-eeyo-o 
Yo-eeyo-o 
He-wao-hui 
He-wao-hui 
Who-he 
Who-he 
We-he-who-he 
We-he-who-he 
O-he-ya 
O-he-ya 
Yo-we-ya 
Yo-we-ya 
O-he-ya 
O-he-ya 
Yo-we-he-ya 
Yo-we-he-ya 
Wa-he-yo-a 
Wa-he-yo-a 
Yea-he-yea 
Yea-he-yea 
Yeo-ho-yeo 
Yeo-ho-yeo 
Wa-he-yeo-a 
Wa-he-yeo-a 
He-eeyo 
He-eeyo 
Ha-he-ya 
Ha-he-ya 


I asked Ben Tommie what the words meant. He thought they 
‘didn’t mean anything.” They had been taught him by Sam Jones, 
the Medicine Man. In 1949, I read these words to Josie Billy, the 


204 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Buy 151 


ex-Medicine Man. He said the words were wrong and sang me 
another version. In neither version were any regular Seminole radicals 
involved. He said they did mean something, but that they were in a 
language now forgotten. 

There is no question that, whether he knows what the words mean 
or not, the Seminole feels that the dance and the song are an invoca- 
tion to God to protect the health of the Indian during the coming year 
and to strengthen the life in the Medicine. I once asked an Indian 
about the song. He said, ‘‘I dunno what the words say, but it make 
my heart feel good.’”’ And there, of course, is the secret, you might 
say—the secret of all religion. 

It is very difficult to identify actual word radicals in Indian songs, 
or, at least, I have found it so with the Seminole songs. If you ask 
an Indian while a song is going on, ‘“‘What are they saying?” his 
answer usually is, “‘Not sayin’ anything—singin’.”’ There seems to be 
a distinct difference between the language of the spoken word and the 
language of song. In the case of the Green Corn Dance song, I have 
yet to find an Indian who will admit knowing what the words of the 
song say. They all have a general idea of the meaning of the song, 
but its exact word meaning is something else again. A logical explana- 
tion the Indian offers is that it is in an old language now forgotten, 
and that when it was new the Indian did know what it said. 


THE SCENE AT MIDNIGHT 


The Green Corn Dance has reached its climax. But unless it is 
possible to evoke some of the feeling and some of the emotion of these 
last few hours, there is no true picture of the dance. The night is 
not black unless your eyes are blinded by the brilliance of the dance 
fire. A short distance away, the sky is gleaming with stars. The 
sky lightens toward the horizon line with the earth black against it, 
ragged here and there with trees. Back in the clan camps, fires burn 
low and an occasional lantern glows dully. Now and then a figure 
moves in the half darkness. 

But the life of the tribe is centered around the dance fire which 
crackles and flares and sends sparks high in the air when new logs are 
thrown on it. It lights the brilliant figures dancing ‘on the opposite 
side and throws those on the nearer side into sharp silhouette. It 
shines on the faces of the men sitting in the tchoc-ko thloc-ko and on 
the long log to the north. Augmented by his own fire, it lights the 
Medicine Man and his assistants sitting cross-legged behind their fire 
to the east of the dance circle. 

In preparation for this night the men’s bodies have been cleansed 
and purified. For 24 hours they have fasted and taken the powerful 
Black Drinks. Since daylight of the morning before, the sacred 


Noose FLORIDA SEMINOLE—CAPRON 205 


Medicine, hidden during all the rest of the year, has been out, and 
now it lies in its deerskin back of the Medicine Man gathering power. 

This Medicine shows God’s love for the Seminole. It is his gift 
and holds within itself all that is needful for the good of the Seminole. 
It has belonged to the Seminole since there was first a Seminole on 
earth—God gave it to him just after he came up out of the ground. 
And just as he is doing now, his ancestors have done since the be- 
ginning—the same songs, the same dances, the same ritual, to keep 
the life and power in the Medicine. 

And on this night, es-te fas-ta is certainly near, hovering above 
with new Medicine to put in the bundle if God thinks the Seminole 
needs it. It is a night of power and forces, which can be felt, and 
each individual is part of it. 


THE FINAL MORNING 


Toward morning the dancers begin to tire and the efforts of the 
dance boss to whip up enthusiasm and keep life in the dancing 
become, of necessity, more and more strenuous. Here is where the 
qualities of firmness, leadership, and a good sense of humor really 
count. JI remember one year, however, when there were a great 
many Indians present from the Trail and Big Cypress groups, and 
the dancing ended in a blaze of glory. Some of the older men began 
bringing up the old-time and rarely used dances, and a real competi- 
tion set in as one after another demanded the chance to lead some 
particular specialty. Everyone got in the spirit of it and the danc- 
ing lasted so late that the whole ritual was thrown out of timing. 

As the first streaks of gray show in the east, the women leave the 
dance ground and go back to the clan camps where they begin the 
preparation of the feast. The actual preparation has begun previous- 
ly with the grinding of the corn. This is no longer done with the 
hollow log and the pounding stick. The soft corn is removed from 
the cob and ground coarsely in a hand mill, like the old mill used for 
coffee, or on farms for grinding oyster shells. The hard corn is 
ground the same way and then winnowed in a great, round, flat 
basket-tray to remove the chaff. It is picked over carefully and un- 
wanted parts pulled off with the fingernails and discarded. 

The ritualistic part of the food is, of course, the corn. This is 
prepared as boiled ears; as sof-kee, a thin gruel of grits, the traditional 
drink of the Seminole; and as great biscuit, 8 to 12 inches across, 
made by mixing the corn with white flour, salt, baking powder, and 
water, and frying it in an iron skillet, spooning the hot grease over 
it as it bakes. 

Meat is also part of the feast. This is recooked beef. Since the 
Indian has no refrigeration, the matter of keeping meat when he kills 


206 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY ({BuLL. 151 


a whole animal is a problem. Some meat is jerked—that is, dried 
in the sun. This is not very satisfactory. Florida has anything 
but the dry, preserving climate of the Southwest. The best solution 
is to remove the fat and cut the lean meat into cubes about 3 inches 
in size. These are run on a spear of green palmetto and cooked 
hard and dry. This meat may be eaten as it is, in which case it is 
served with a pan of hot grease in which it is dipped as eaten, to soften it 
and give it flavor. It will keep for weeks in even the warmest weather. 

But for feasts such as the Corn Dance, it is cooked up with rice 
and tomatoes, which softens it, and which gives richness to the 
vegetables. It is eaten with a spoon. Coffee is another essential. 
Boiled in little, black, iron kettles, it is served with sugar only. 

When the women have left the dance ground, the final purification 
ceremonies begin. Practically all the men are scarified at this time, 
the only exception being those who were ‘‘scratched”’ the day before. 
The scratching is usually of the outer skin only; deep enough to leave 
marks that scab over and last for weeks, but not deep enough to 
cause a flow of blood. The scratching may be deep, however, in 
which case it is usually a younger man. The scratching is being 
done by one of the younger bucks, and there is a good deal of laughter 
and banter. It is evident that he is being punished for some failure 
to measure up to standard. 


THE SCRATCHING 


The scratching consists of two long strokes on the front and two on 
the back of each upper arm and each lower arm; two front and two 
back on the thighs and two each on the lower leg; two diagonal strokes 
on each breast and two diagonal strokes on each side of the back. The 
man being scratched, of course, takes it voluntarily, but he may wince 
and give yi’s and yip’s of appreciation as he feels the needles. It is all 
good natured, however, and there is quite a bit of banter. All this 
exuberance and all such acknowledgment of pain are on the part of the 
younger men. The older men take it quite as a matter of course and 
with quiet seriousness. 

For the scratching the men wear only some sort of a breechclout— 
usually a shirt twisted through their legs and around their waists. 
The scratching is done simultaneously by six or eight men, the older 
men scratching the older and the younger, the younger. The Medi- 
cine Man and his assistants, as well as the helpers, are all scratched 
at this time. In fact, every man not yet scratched is scratched at this 
time, the helpers being sent out to bring in the laggards. A man too 
drunk to walk is carried, one on each side, to the dance ground; his 
clothes are taken off and he is scratched whether or no. In such a 
case, the scratching seems to have quite a sobering effect. 


“ie FLORIDA SEMINOLE—CAPRON 207 


The scratching on this last morning is not done at the tchoc-ko 
thloc-ko, but on the opposite side of the dance fire. Its purpose is to 
purify the blood and prevent blood poison. No sanitary or prophy- 
lactic measures are taken and the needles are used on one after another. 
But I have never seen any infection develop, local or systemic. 

In the meantime the sweat bath has been prepared to the northeast 
of the Medicine Man’s fire. Directly to the east of the Medicine 
Man’s fire, the stones are heating on the sweat-bath fire—four stones 
about 10 inches across, of a lime conglomerate. The two long poles 
for the sweat bath have been provided the day before, or those from 
the previous year are used again. They are bent across each other in 
an arc and a tarpaulin is thrown over them, making a hemisphere about 
8 feet in diameter, and about 4 feet high. 

As mentioned previously, the sweat-bath stones are called sa-too 
(stone) hi-yee (hot) (Creek); tal-lee (stone) hi-yee (hot) (Miccosuki). 
The term for sweat bath adds the word for house—sa-too hi-yee tchoc- 
ko (Creek) and tal-lee hi-yee chick-kee (Miccosuki). The term for 
sweat is also used—ish-mish-kee-ta (Creek), hip-kit-kee-kee (Micco- 
suki). This works out sa-too tut-ka ish-mish-kee-ta (Creek) and 
tal-lee hi-yee hip-kit-kee-kee (Miccosuki). It will be noted that my 
Cow Creek informant in this case used a different word for hot. 

Fifteen or twenty of the men crowd in this small space, clad in their 
makeshift breechclouts. They are mostly the younger men. The four 
heated stones are now handed in, and all the remaining Black Drink, 
and this last is emptied on the stones. In a moment steam curls out 
of all leaks in the covering, the walls billow as the men move about, and 
there is much laughter and talk inside the little tent. The men stay 
inside for about 3 or 4 minutes, and then they burst out, glistening 
with sweat, and make for the marsh to bathe. Those who have not 
taken the sweat bath also go and bathe, and for some time there is a 
continual procession of men on their way from the dance ground to 
the marsh and returning. 

In the meantime, the Medicine Man has taken a little red cloth 
package from the Medicine Bundle and from this has taken a little 
pipe. He lights this and stands, facing the east and smoking it. He 
stands thus for a few moments, smoking, and then he sits down behind 
the Medicine Man’s fire, facing west, and smokes for a few minutes 
more. Then he puts up the pipe and turns to the Medicine Bundle. 

He is now squatted down before the Medicine Bundle facing east. 
One by one he opens the little buckskin packages and inspects their 
contents. It is now he will discover whether es-te fas-ta has given 
him new Medicine. He will find it as he goes through the packages. 
Indians drift up and stand by for a while watching him, and then 
move away, but at all times there are several standing by. As he 


208 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 151 


comes to any of the private Medicine, he hands it up to the owner, 
who takes it at once to his camp and puts it back where he keeps it. 

When he has finished, the Medicine Man wraps the Medicine in a 
different deerskin. The deerskin in which it has been for the last 
24 hours is spread on top of the tchoc-ko thloc-ko. The Medicine Man 
now takes the Medicine Bundle and walks off to the east until he dis- 
appears in the distance. 

The men, as they finish their various occupations, go and sit in the 
tchoc-ko thloc-ko, on the logs facing inward. The women in long, 
brightly colored, single-file processions, bring the food down from the 
various clan camps to the dance ground, setting it down at the foot of 
the paths through the palmettos. The men bring it in from there 
and put it in the open space between the log seats of the tchoc-ko thloc- 
ko. The Medicine Man’s assistant stands by the ball-game pole just 
outside of the dance circle. Properly timed it should be just sunrise 
and everything awaits the return of the Medicine Man. 

At last his assistant sights the Medicine Man returning empty- 
handed. He has hidden the Medicine Bundle. The assistant gives 
the signal and the feast begins. The Green Corn Dance is over. 


EXPLANATION OF PLATES 


PLATE 7 
Typical Seminole Village 


Home of Sam Jones, Medicine Man of the Cow Creek Seminoles. In the center, 
between the houses, is the cooking shelter roofed with sheet iron. It is the 
center of the circle of sleeping houses. This is a typical village of the pine 
prairies. 

PLATE 8 


Two Seminole Medicine Men 
Left: Ingraham Billy, Medicine Man of the Tamiami Trail Seminole. Aight: Sam 
Jones, long-time Medicine Man of the Cow Creek Seminole. 
PLATE 9 
Two Seminole Medicine Men 


Left: John Osceola, Big Cypress Medicine Man at the 1949 Green Corn Dance: 
He held the Medicine Bundle only a few months, and turned it over recently 
to his son-in-law, Frank Tucker. Right: Josie Billy, former Medicine Man 
of the Tamiami Trail Seminole. 


PLaTE 10 
Clan Camp at the Green Corn Dance 


Upper: Occupied clan camp; for the 5 or 6 days of the Green Corn Dance, tar- 
paulins are stretched over ridge poles, floors are laid down, temporary shelters 
are put up, and the camp is a living thing. Lower: Clan camp between Corn 
Dances; for the rest of the year only bare pole frameworks remain, though 
floors are left in some instances, 


SS caie eas FLORIDA SEMINOLE-——CAPRON 209 


PLATE 11 
Setting for the Green Corn Dance 


Upper: The dance circle. To the left is the ball-game pole; center, the log for the 
dance director; right center, the dance fire; right, the tchoc-ko thloc-ko. In 
the back are the deserted clan camps. Lower: Sweat-bath stones and frame- 
work. A tarpaulin covers the framework the last morning of the Green Corn 
Dance. Fifteen or twenty men squat inside and the last of the Black Drink 
is poured on the four hot stones. 


PLaTE 12 
Views of the Green Corn Dance Structure 


Upper: The tchoc-ko thloc-ko, or “Big House’—MacCauley’s “House Where 
the Warriors Sit.’ His term shows his informant was Cow Creek. The 
Miccosuki word is chick-ee cho-bee, which also means “‘Big House.”’ Looking 
east through the structure, the dance fire is clearly marked. The uprights 
are 8-inch pine logs. The over-all ground measurements are approximately 
10 by 14 feet, with a 2-foot overhang of the thatching. In front it is 6 feet 
7 inches to the cross beam; in back, 5 feet 8 inches. Seven smaller logs are 
crossways of the main beams, with light poles across them. The thatching 
is palmetto, held in place by four logs laid lengthwise, The roof is further 
decorated with branches of sweet bay. The light poles laid loosely on top 
are the poles from the Feather Dance. Lower: Reserved seats for the Green 
Corn Dance. The floor arrangement of the tchoc-ko thloc-ko. The men 
sit on the double logs front and back. Both rows face east during the danc- 
ing and ball games. Both rows face inward on picnic day and for the feast 
the last morning. ‘The food is placed down the center. The men also face 
inward for the discussions on Court Day. 


PuatTe 13 
Green Corn Dance Items 


To the left are the roots, stems, and fruits of the pa-sa. The tubers have been 
removed for the first Black Drink. Next is the willow log from which the 
inner bark has been removed to make the second black drink, ac-wa-na. 
The outer bark of the willow as it was stripped off is in front. To the right 
of the yardstick is the hollow prayer reed with its windings of red cloth. 
Next is a well-made ball-game racket, and last a makeshift racket of split 
palmetto stem. Below are tin-can rattles—those on the left are women’s 
rattles, and those on the right, men’s. 


PuatTe 14 
Plants Used in Preparation of the Black Drink 


Left: Herbs from the Black Drink. Woody parts of herbs remaining from the 
“Big Pot’? Black Drink. Top row, left to right: 1, St. John’s wort, Hyperi- 
cum aspalathoides Willd.; 2, Water liana, Cissus sicyoides L.; second row: 
3, blueberry, Vaccinium myrsinites Lam.; 4, Grapes, Vitis rotundifolia Mich., 
and Vitis caribaea H. & B.; 5, Red bay, Persea borbonia (L.) Spreng. Right: 
Black Drink herbs and prayer reed. The sweat-bath stones covered with 
the woody parts of the herbs in the “Big Pot”? Black Drink. Leaning 
against them is the hollow reed wound with red cloth through which prayers 
have been blown into the Black Drink. 


210 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY (Buin. 151 


Puate 15 
Items Used in the Green Corn Dance 


a, Seratcher. Six needles run through a small block of wood and bound with 
thread, with which the men are scratched to purify the blood. 6, Forked 
Medicine stick. On this forked branch, firmly set in the ground, the sacred 
Medicine hangs in its deerskin from early in the morning of Court Day until 
evening, when it is taken down to be watched over by the Medicine Man 
the whole night of dancing. c, Score board. Flattened side of the ball- 
game pole on which the score is kept with a piece of charcoal. 


BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 


i 
in 


en a een 


BULLETIN 151 


PLATE 7 


TYPICAL SEMINOLE VILLAGE, 


(For explanation, see p, 208.) 


PLATE 8 


BULLETIN 151 


BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 


(g0z ‘d 99s ‘moryeuR[dxe 10.7) 
‘NAW ANIDSIGAW SATIONINAS OML 


BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 


BULLETIN 151 


PLATE 9 


TWO SEMINOLE MEDICINE MEN. 


_ (For explanation, see p. 208.) 


BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 151 PLATE 10 
E Ou. 4 
* f 

erry Ay 


CLAN CAMP AT THE GREEN CORN DANCE. 
(For explanation, see n. 208.) 


BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 151 PLATE 11 


¥ 


4 


i 


oe plc aie 008 i Di . 


SETTING FOR THE GREEN CORN DANCE. 
(For explanation, see p. 209.) 


BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 151 


VIEWS OF THE GREEN CORN DANCE STRUCTURE. 
(For explanation, see p. 209.) 


PLATE 


12 


BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 151 PLATE 13 


Sain — — 


GREEN CORN DANCE ITEMS. 
(For explanation, see p. 209.) 


BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 151 PLATE 14 


(For explanation, see p. 209.) 


PLANTS USED IN PREPARATION OF THE BLACK DRINK. 


BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 151 PLATE 15 


See ca 1 


aes. 


ITEMS USED IN THE GREEN CORN DANCE, 
(For explanation, see p. 210.) 


SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 
Bureau of American Ethnology 
Bulletin 151 


Anthropological Papers, No. 36 
Technique in the Music of the American Indian 


By FRANCES DENSMORE 


211 


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TECHNIQUE IN THE MUSIC OF THE AMERICAN 
INDIAN 


By Frances DENSMORE 


Music should be recognized as a phase of the culture of the American 
Indian. When this is done we are ready to look for standards of 
excellence as in other phases of culture. These are not found as 
easily in music as in such arts as pottery and basketry. The Indians 
cannot describe their music in detail and little beyond a general knowl- 
edge is gained by listening to the singing at ceremonies, games, and 
dances. Information must be gained by patient investigation and 
the Indian often tells a great deal when he is unconscious that he is 
giving important facts. 

The present consideration will be limited to technique in the sing- 
ing of the Indians except when the tempo of the song is different from 
that of the accompanying instrument. An interesting study could 
be made of the Indian technique in drumming and the use of other 
percussion instruments, as well as the more primitive forms of accom- 
paniment, such as clapping the hands. These, as well as whistles and 
other wind instruments, are familiar to students of Indian music. 

The following are phases of technique that are common to many 
tribes: 

Tone production.—The Indian produces his singing tone by a pecul- 
iar action of the muscles of his mouth and throat. The writer once 
sang a Chippewa song for Maifi’gans who had recorded it and asked 
him if it was correct. He replied, ‘“‘The tune is right but you haven’t 
an Indian throat.”’ That is the fundamental element in the old In- 
dian singing and cannot be imitated successfully by a white person, 
neither is it heard in the singing of young, educated Indians. By 
the use of this peculiar technique an Indian could separate the tones 
of his song without the use of words or syllables. He could produce 
note values as short as 32d notes with distinctness. Among the old 
Chippewa a peculiar, artificial tone was used in love songs and in no 
other songs except those of the scalp dance. It is a nasal, whining 
tone, with a gliding from one pitch to another, and the old love songs 
can be recognized by this mannerism. It has been compared to the 
sound produced by an animal and also to an imitation of the sound of 

213 


214 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY (Buty. 151 


a wind instrument. The writer recorded numerous love songs prior 
to 1911 that were sung with this technique, by both men and women. 
A different tone production is used by men who sing around the 
drum at dances. Theirs is a piercing quality of tone that can be 
heard a long distance. A similar quality of tone is used by men 
who make the announcements each evening in a large camp. Sucha 
man was once brought in to make a recording with the statement that 
he was more than a hundred years old. The writer expected to hear a 
weak voice, but his voice was astounding in its volume and force. 

Some men can sing in falsetto, and there are men who have their 
own manner of tone production that is admired. Thus songs were 
obtained in 1911 from a young Chippewa who came down from 
Canada to Red Lake, in Minnesota, to attend a celebration. He 
sang with a peculiar throaty vibrato and said that he discovered his 
ability to do this when a child and had cultivated it ever since. It is 
heard in the records of his songs. 

Use of words.—This custom differs in various regions. For example, 
the Chippewa use few words in their songs—only enough to indicate 
the idea. One of their old songs is in honor of a warrior named 
Cimau’ganic and the only words were translated ‘“Cimau’ganic 
killed in war.” In such a song the name of a popular hero may 
replace that of an old warrior, the words of praise remaining the 
same. Such words generally occur in the middle of the melody, the 
remainder of the tones being sung with the native tone production 
requiring no words. In contrast, the songs of Santo Domingo Pueblo 
contain words through the length of the melody, often describing in 
detail a custom, such as that of bringing in a harvest of corn from the 
field. 

Accuracy in repeating a melody.—In certain ceremonial songs it is 
required that a song be repeated if there is the slightest mistake in 
its rendition. The writer has recorded many repetitions of dance 
songs in which there was not the slightest difference. This custom 
however, is not universal. In a series of renditions of a song by a 
good singer there are often short, passing tones and by-tones. These 
are permissible to a good singer, as in our own race. In one tribe 
many differences were noticed in the renditions and the singer was 
asked to record the song only once. He did so, and a simple melody 
was heard instead of the rather elaborate versions that he had been 
recording. In reply to the writer’s question, he said that he intended 
to sing it a little differently every time and that his ability to do so was 
a mark of his skill as a singer. This has not been found elsewhere. 

Improvisation.—This custom has been recorded in only one tribe, 
but was connected with folk stories which have not been a subject of 
special study. It was found among the Northern Ute and several 


Rage) F «© MUSIC OF AMERICAN INDIAN—DENSMORE 215 


examples were recorded. In these instances the entire folk tale was 
sung instead of spoken. The melodies contained no rhythmic units 
nor repetitions of phrases yet the singing of each story had an indi- 
viduality that was, in some way, characteristic of the actors in the 
tale. Thus a story about the prairie dogs was expressed in an agile 
melody and the song about the bear who stole the wolf’s wife was 
sung to a slow, simple melody. The story about the wolf’s little 
children who won a race was sung to a melody with a compass of 11 
tones, moving freely within that compass. Three of these songs were 
recorded by an aged woman who said that she learned them from her 
mother, up in the canyon. When she was a little girl her mother 
sang them to her and told her of the time when ‘“‘the wolves were 
people.”’ An additional song of this sort was recorded by another 
woman who was known as Fanny Provo, but no others were found. 

Difference in tempo of voice and drum.—In many recorded songs the 
tempo (metric unit) of the voice is not the same as that of the drum. 
A singer may sing in one tempo and beat the drum in a different 
tempo, or he may sing in one tempo while the drum is beaten in a 
different tempo, by another Indian. In a comparative analysis of 
60 old and 62 comparatively modern Sioux songs, the tempo of voice 
and drum was different in 31 songs of the former group and in only 
15 songs of the latter group. A similar comparison was not made in 
any other tribe. 

Change of pitch-level during renditions of a song.—This peculiarity 
was found to the largest extent in the songs of Santo Domingo Pueblo, 
N. Mex., though it occurred also in songs of the Yuma in southern 
Arizona, the Makah in Neah Bay, Wash., and the Winnebago in 
Wisconsin. This peculiarity has been widely noted in primitive 
music and mentioned by writers on that subject. After noting the 
rise in pitch-level in many Santo Domingo songs, the singer was 
asked whether it was intentional. He replied without hesitation, 
“Yes, that is the way my grandfather taught me to do when he 
taught me the songs.” He added that the rise in pitch-level was 
used in the old war songs. In some songs the pitch-level was gradually 
lowered, the change in both instances being about a semitone, after 
which the new pitch-level was sustained to the end of the performance. 

Certain mannerisms are connected with various classes of songs. 
Thus the dancing songs of the Sioux Sun Dance were sung with a 
‘Jiggling’”’ tone. This was heard also in recordings of similar songs 
by the Northern Ute. The Choctaw of Mississippi use different 
“shouts” with each class of dance songs. This may be a form of the 
“hollering” that is a custom of Negro singing and was designated by 
that name among the Seminole of Florida. Similar ‘shouts’ have 

909871—52——15 


216 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY (Buin. 151 


not been heard in songs of northern tribes. The syllables “‘ho 
ho ho ho” are heard in the Chippewa songs of the Mide’wiwin, 
occurring during the songs and between renditions. Similar sounds 
are made by medicine men when treating the sick. War songs in 
many tribes may be interrupted by sharp cries or explosive sentences, 
and similar cries may follow the songs. In some widely separated 
tribes the labial m, with the lips closed, is heard during portions of 
the song. It is apart from the purpose of this brief paper to document 
the foregoing statements which are described in various books by the 
present writer, but their occurrence shows a degree of technique 
among Indians and limited standards of excellence in their musical 
performances. 

The intention of the writer’s work has been to discover what music 
means to the Indian and to describe it from his standpoint. In 
that work it is necessary to use musical terms that are familiar to 
musicians of our own race, though they are not accurate. Music is a 
source of pleasure to Indians, and skill according to their standards is 
appreciated and honored, but music to them, in its highest sense, is 
connected with power and with communication with the mysterious 
forces that control all human life. In that, even more than in the 
sound of the singing, lies the real difference between the music of the 
American Indian and that of our own race. 


SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 
Bureau of American Ethnology 
Bulletin 151 


Anthropological Papers, No. 37 


The Belief of the Indian in a Connection between Song 
and the Supernatural 


By FRANCES DENSMORE 


217 


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THE BELIEF OF THE INDIAN IN A CONNECTION 
BETWEEN SONG AND THE SUPERNATURAL 


By Frances DrENsMORE 


An important phase of Indian music is known as the dream song, 
which is common to many tribes. These songs are not composed but 
are said to come to the mind of the Indian when he has placed himself 
in a receptive attitude. To this extent the source of the song is not 
unlike the inspiration sometimes experienced by composers of our own 
race, but the use of the song is entirely different. Our composer 
regards the song as a possible source of applause or wealth while the 
Indian connects it with mysterious power. An old Indian said to the 
writer, “If a man is to do something beyond human power he must 
have more than human strength.”’ Song is a means through which 
that strength is believed to come to him, 

In this, as in all close study of Indians, the student is hampered by 
lack of an adequate vocabulary and a knowledge of the idioms of the 
Indian language. A careful interpreter is necessary, with many 
patient conferences between the interpreter and the Indian as well as 
with the student, but the result is worth the effort. For example, if 
the Indian uses a word meaning “spirit”? and it is interpreted as 
“qa, spirit” the significance is changed and there enters the concept of a 
material form, so the presence of a spirit may be assumed when it is 
not in the mind of the Indian. On one occasion the writer was ques- 
tioning Lone Man, a trusted Sioux informant and singer, concerning 
information received from a pipe. He was asked whether a spirit 
entered into the pipe and gave the information. He replied this was 
not. the case, saying that under certain conditions a pipe might 
“become sacred”’ and speak to the Indian. Among the Sioux Indians 
the term “wa’/kan” is used in referring to any mystery. The term 
“Great Spirit” is commonly used as the English equivalent of the 
Sioux word ‘“‘Wakan’tanka,”’ which consists of two adjectives, wa’kan, 
“mysterious” and tan’ka, “great.’”’ Throughout the writer’s work 
the term ““Wakan’tanka’’ is used.! In old times this word was not used 
in ordinary conversation, as it was held too sacred to be spoken except 


1 Densmore, Frances, Teton Sioux Music, Bur. Amer, Ethnol. Buil. 61, p. 85. 1918. 
219 


220 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Butn. 151 


with reverence and at a proper time. That which remains unspoken 
must be considered in any study of Indian thought, together with the 
fact that a ‘“‘sacred language’’ is sometimes used by which ideas can be 
conveyed between initiates without being understood by others. 

To a white man the term ‘‘dream”’ is connected with unconscious- 
ness, but the Indian term implies an acute awareness of something 
mysterious. Dreams and their songs may come to an Indian in 
natural sleep if his mind is conditioned to such an experience, but the 
first important dream comes to a young man in a fasting vigil. He 
is alone in some silent place, and his mind is passive, as he hopes 
for an impression to come to him from a mysterious source. The 
silence becomes vibrant, it becomes rhythmic, and a melody comes to 
his mind. This is his ‘dream song,” his most individual possession. 
An aged man once recorded his dream song for the writer, then bowed 
his head and said tremulously that he thought he would not live long 
as he had parted with his most precious possession. The white 
musician composes songs addressed to his deity. The Indian waited 
and listened for the mysterious power pervading all nature to speak to 
him in song. The Indian realized that he was part of nature—not 
akin to it. 

By means of his dream song and by performing certain acts a man 
might put himself again in contact with the mysterious powers seen 
inhis dream. Others might know the song from hearmg him sing it, 
but no results would follow if they had the temerity to sing it. Yet 
a man might share his song, its power and its benefits, if he so desired 
and if someone were willing to pay the price. A man once offered to 
record his song to bring rain, saying the writer could bring rain at any 
time by singing it and that he would still have power to do so. His 
price was $50, and it is needless to say that his offer was declined. The 
dream songs of the warriors of former days are sometimes sung in the 
war dances, the name of the warrior being honored in this manner, 
and the dream songs of forgotten warriors may remain in use, the name 
of the warrior being lost and only the song remaining. 

The bird or animal that appeared to the Indian in his dream was 
an embodiment, to some extent, of the power that he desired and, by 
his individual temperament, was best fitted to use. A dream of a 
bear was especially favored by those who treated the sick, as the 
bear has such good claws for digging herbs which it eats. With the 
song, a bear may reveal certain herbs to be used by the medicine 
man. The warrior may dream of a roving wolf, and the hunter 
may dream of a buffalo. The creature seen in the dream is often 
mentioned in the song and may be made known in the man’s name. 
Brave Buffalo, a Sioux who recorded several songs for me, had his 


No aT} F )«6«SONG AND THE SUPERNATURAL—DENSMORE 221 


first dream when 10 years old and in that dream he saw a buffalo. 
His Sioux name was Tatan’ka-ohi’tika, meaning ‘‘brave buffalo bull,”’ 
but he was commonly known as Brave Buffalo. Later he dreamed 
of elk and wolves, and he recorded the songs received in these dreams. 

Dreams concerning forms of nature may be regarded as more 
primitive than dreams concerning birds or animals, and songs are 
received from such powers. Such was the dream of a young man 
who lived to be an old warrior of the Pawnee. His name was Eagle. 
As a young man he was afraid of the storm and wept when he heard 
the thunder, but in a dream the thunder spoke to him slowly and 
said, “Do not be afraid, your father is coming.” He heard the 
thunder sing, learned the song, and sang it when he went to war.’ 
The words are freely translated: 

Beloved it is good, 
He, the thunder, is saying quietly, 
it is good. 

The term “thunderbirds” is more familiar than the term that 
carries no implication of a material form. Two of the writer’s Sioux 
singers had dreams in which the thunderbirds assumed the form of 
men riding on horses.? 

Two Chippewa dream songs were concerning the wind. They 
were recorded by Ki’miwun, ‘‘Rainy,” at the remote village of 
Waba’cifig, on Red Lake in Minnesota. They appear to be the dream 
songs of forgotten men, as no origin was ascribed to them. The 
first was used in treating the sick and the words are evidently con- 
cerning the man’s dream. They are translated: 


As the wind is carrying me around the sky. 


The use of the second song was not known, but it had come down 
from a former time and was still sung. The words are: 


One wind, I am master of it. 


A member of the Makah tribe, in northwest Washington, related 
a dream in which the Southwest Wind appeared to him in the form 
of a man and sang a song, which he learned. This man was a promi- 
nent member of the tribe whose name was Young Doctor. He said 
the words of this song are not Indian words—they are in no known 
language, and he called it the “‘wind language.”’ ® 
Passing from songs of the thunder and the wind, we turn to a song 
of the Yaqui concerning a simpler manifestation of nature. The 
Yaqui songs were recorded at Guadalupe village, near Phoenix, Ariz., 
2 Densmore, Frances, Pawnee Music, Bur. Amer. Ethnol. Bull. 93, pp. 61, 62. 1929. 
3 Densmore, Frances, Teton Sioux Music, Bur. Amer. Ethno]. Bull. 61, pp. 159, 170. 1918. 


4 Densmore, Frances, Chippewa Music—II, Bur. Amer. Ethnol. Bull. 53, pp. 263, 271. 1913. 
§ Densmore, Frances, Nootka and Quileute Music, Bur. Amer. Ethnol. Bull. 124, p. 256. 1939. 


222 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLD. 151 


in 1922. These Indians were citizens of Mexico and preserved many 
of their tribal customs including the Deer Dance. The songs of this 
dance are concerning the actions of various birds and animals but 
one is of special interest. The words were translated, “The bush is 
sitting under the tree and singing.”” The interpreter explained that 
the last word was correctly translated as “singing,” but that it 
referred to the putting forth of magic power. The bush, “sitting 
under the tree,’’ shared in the power that pervades the universe.® 

It is customary for a man to wear or carry some article connected 
with his dream which shows its general subject, though he may not 
reveal all its details. A song of the Sioux Sun Dance mentions the 
wearing of certain symbols as a requirement of a dream. This 
song was recorded by Red Bird on the Standing Rock Reservation in 
North Dakota, in 1912.7. It was sung at a Sun Dance by the Inter- 
cessor, during one of the periods when the dancers rested, the people 
listening attentively. In explanation, Red Bird said that the Inter- 
cessor, in his dream, saw the rising sun with rays streaming out 
around it. He made an ornament which represented this and wore 
it. The ornament is a hoop with feathers fastened lightly to it. The 
hoop represents the sun and the feathers fastened to it are the feathers 
of the eagle, which is the bird of day; the crane, which is the bird of 
night; and the hawk, which is the bird of prey. The words were: 


(First rendition) 


The sun is my friend, 
a hoop it has made me wear, 
an eagle it has made me wear. 


(Second rendition) 


The moon is my friend, 
a crane it has made me wear, 
a hawk it has made me wear. 


The use of music in the treatment of the sick has been a subject of 
special study by the writer in many tribes, and the songs used in 
such treatment have been recorded, together with the dreams in 
which they had their origin. The man who recorded the largest 
number of such healing songs was Eagle Shield, a Sioux who recorded 
nine songs that he used in his own practice. His specialty, was the 
treatment of fractures, and he recorded a song that he sang four times 
“while getting ready to apply the medicine.’ Most of his remedies 
for adults were received from a bear, and one song contained the 
words “bear told me about all these things.’”’ Certain procedures 


6 Densmore, Frances, Yuman and Yaqui Music, Bur. Amer. Ethno]. Bull. 110, p. 162. 1932, 
7 Densmore, Frances, Teton Sioux Music, Bur. Amer. Ethnol. Bull. 61, p. 139. 1918. 


No 37), 1} SONG AND THE SUPERNATURAL—DENSMORE 223 


were often part of his treatment and one of his songs was sung only 
three times when administering a certain herb. His remedies for 
children were received from the badger and there were no songs with 
these remedies.® 

A study of the dream song in many tribes reveals the place that 
song occupied in the life of the American Indians. They had their 
songs with games, dances, legends, and folk stories but those phases 
of their music were apart from its chief function—their communication 
with the supernatural, through which they believed that they could 
secure aid in every undertaking. 


§ Op. cit., pp. 253-267. 


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SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 
Bureau of American Ethnology 
Bulletin 151 


Anthropological Papers, No. 38 
Aboriginal Fish Poisons 


By ROBERT F. HEIZER 


225 


VALLOBA TIME 


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CONTENTS 


JEVIGT Veh Sala pe 5, - ipa nae gpa? (Pant ca te wt eps tipaeet eg ke ap bilgat elle ee Alba Spaeth 5 
EHUTOGUCULONE ae ene: ot hanes Shir Bs Becta ee 2 ee Ce ee ee 


Methods afemployine piscicidés: 42.35.20} bee. oot oF 
Botanic) dists: asthe pources A. 422s. Sey te ae. eek oe 
Source lists of genera containing certain plant toxins____________-_- 
Bibliographies"in the source accounts... ..--.=---=--2..-......-.- 
Folk names of fish-poison plants found in the sources_---__-.------ 


aRhevonicinsOl fish“ poisoningo~ £28 2 255 Oke, ELE eee ee ee es 
ae eulpuraistatueGh piscicidess!: 4202 a) pee bone ie eee Se 
Hrenincance OLereal distributions. =~. 4.2. oot eee oo eee ee 


AEST, Se See ee a, SER eee MOTOR, Sees Sune. iy (Rate pRpeQne amy We es Ae hs 
Bavuierm Asis and: Malayvsia.— 9-2 2 ee ae Spt ae 
VEE TT ATE eS Sey Rie Stat heii A ole pi ts sd AE ARR A PB A APL EN oo 


Mexicovand. CentraleAmerieaia> =. = 5) eae ee ee 
Soupueasterm United Scatesan sea ee ae ee ee ee 


SIE he, tet ee a a a oe ee ae ae ee ee ene Sey ements ee ee 


Pe MOCLUNVOLIGes «5 om 238 2. 2 i SB ed fag: Bees ce 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


PLATES 


livero VenGiing poisoning fish > 205 6s oo Se ete ea ae oe 
wivarolndians:collecting stupefied fish...2. = - ..2. 3-22-42 5-25-25 
. South American Indians poisoning fish, Fortaleza, near Yurimongas-- 
. Plantation of fish-poison plants, Fortaleza, near Yurimongas - - - - ---- 


MAPS 


|. World distribution of fish’ poisoning: 2222 [U2 Saye ssa. ese 
. Distribution of fish poisoning in western North America------~----- 
. Distribution of fish-poison plants in western North America- -- - - --- 


PAGE 
229 
231 
231 
232 
233 
233 
233 
234 
236 
243 
243 
245 
245 
246 
248 
249 
250 
252 
253 
254 
254 
256 
256 
257 
259 
272 


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PREFACE 


The aboriginal use of poisons is a rather neglected field of research,} 
a situation somewhat surprising in view of the abundance of data 
bearing on native uses of toxic substances. There has been, for ex- 
ample, no general study of North American arrow poisons, yet our 
ethnographic literature constantly refers to their use and identifica- 
tion.” The larger study of ethnobotany, of which ethnotoxicology is 
a component, has for long been a subject of interest, and we have many 
good works dealing with native utilization of plants. It is a special- 
ists’ field, however, and only rarely does an ethnobotanist have the 
requisite anthropological background and insight to produce a work 
which satisfies competent students in both fields.? It is for this same 
reason that I am somewhat reluctant, as a nonspecialist in botany 
and toxicology, to offer this study. But since we lack any general 
statements whatsoever on the subject of fish drugging, it is felt that 
what is offered here will be useful in view of the lack of any other 
general review. In dealing with piscicides the cultural rather than 
the purely botanical or toxicological aspects of the data have been 
emphasized.* 

There is, in the present study, no attempt at presenting any theo- 
retical thesis. It is hoped, however, that the data contained herein 
will show by themselves certain facets of primitive thought and psy- 
chology. Few today would deny the existence of logical thought on 
the part of preliterates and still claim seriously that “prelogical”’ 
thought (in the sense of Lévy-Bruhl) is the only form of thinking 
which determines primitives’ actions and reactions. Both types of 
mental process do exist, and they are useful concepts serving as inter- 
pretative tools. I feel that the present data on piscicides show the 
essentially matter-of-fact, logical, cause-and-effect type of human 
thought as applied to that fundamental urge, the food quest. 


i Lewin (1923) has specialized, as a toxicologist, on arrow poisons, 

2A start, but always from a regional standpoint, on this problem has been made. See, for example: 
Hoffman, 1891, 1896, p. 284 ff.; Beals, 1932, table 89; Spier, 1928, p. 259; Birket-Smith and de Laguna, 1938, 
p. 445; Heizer, 1938, 1943. 

3 Vestal and Schultes’ (1939) Kiowa economic botany is one of these exceptions, as are the numerous works 
of Volney H. Jones of the University of Michigan. For a stimulating view on specialized aspects of the 
relation between man and plants, see Sauer (1947). : 

4 For botanical and toxicological data on plants and plant toxins employed in fish drugging, see Greshoff, 
I (1893), II (1900), III (1913), 1909; Radlkofer, 1887; Ernst, 1881, 1888 a, 1888 b; Howes, 1930: Maiden, 1894; 
Killip and Smith, 1931; Hamlyn-Harris and Smith, 1916; Vellard, 1941; Priess, 1911; Gillin, 1936, pp. 12-13; 
Roark, 1936, pp. 27-38; 1938, pp. 25-37. 


229 


230 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Buy 151 


The procedure followed here is the simple one of presenting the 
collected data in tabular form, translating these items into a carto- 
graphic representation (map 2), then discussing these raw data at 
some length in interpretative sections as to possible origins, analysis 
of distributions, and probable history of the complex. The discussion 
progressively leaves in its wake a series of unsolved problems. In- 
conclusiveness need not signify insolubility; it is merely that the major 
problem of presenting the mass of data seems most important at this 
time. 

This study had its origins in the subject of fish drugging in Cali- 
fornia, the data being derived from the new and extensive Culture 
Element Distributions Studies of the Department of Anthropology 
of the University of California. A summary of the Californian data 
is presented in the proper place, the abundance of data from other 
regions in the world making the former seem inadequate as a spring- 
board from which to proceed to the larger considerations connected 
with fish poisoning in general. 

I should like to express my indebtedness to Dr. A. L. Kroeber for 
his suggestion that I enlarge the earlier study to its present amplitude. 
to my colleagues, Dr. T. D. McCown and Dr. R. H. Lowie for several 
long and helpful talks on the subject. Dr. C. O. Sauer has also aided 
me, and I here express my appreciation for his encouragement. 

I am particularly indebted to Dr. Harold St. John, of the Depart- 
ment of Botany, University of Hawaii, and Dr. E. P. Killip, of the 
Smithsonian Institution, who performed the difficult task of checking 
and revising the botanical names in the tables. 


ABORIGINAL FISH POISONS 


By Rossrt F. HEizer 


INTRODUCTION 


METHODS OF EMPLOYING PISCICIDES 


The universal feature of fish stupefying is simply the recognition of 
a narcotizing, sometimes lethal, effect on the fish by introducing the 
poisonous principle of a plant into the water. An effective plant 
piscicide must fulfill certain conditions, among which are great 
solubility, rapid diffusion in the water, high potency so that it is 
effective in dilute solutions, and it must have such an effect that the 
fish itself does not have a toxic quality when eaten by humans. The 
techniques are somewhat varied, and are classified as follows: 

(1) Dumping crushed plant materials into the water—This is the 
most common method; universally present within the area shown on 
map 2 where piscicides are employed. Plant materials (roots, leaves, 
fruit, seeds, or whole plant) and tree saps are crushed or otherwise 
extracted and put into the water. The limiting condition here seems 
to be in the location selected; either a pool, or slow-moving stream. 
Sometimes this is artificially formed by a rock or brush dam (weir). At 
any rate, very large bodies of water (rivers, lakes, tidal lagoons) would 
ordinarily allow too much dilution or dispersal of the poisonous juices, 
as would also be the case in a small, rapidly flowing stream. Thus, the 
area to be poisoned must be amenable to fairly intensive and restricted 
action by the poison.® 

(1a) Sousing crushed plant materials, held in a container, in the 
water.—The plant material for fish drugging may be so highly effective 
that only a little is needed to produce the desired results. In this 
event, the crushed plants may be put in a bag or openwork basket, 
soused up and down in the water, and then taken out. ‘This is, of 
course, a modification of the simpler first method, and is an application 
best suited to plants of high toxicity. The presence of large amounts 
of plant toxin might kill all the fish over a very wide area.® 


$s Chapple and Coon (1942, p. 158) suggest that ‘‘fish poisoning is most common in tropical regions, for 
warm water is necessary if it is to be effective.” 

6 Greshoff (I: 126) notes that the juice of Euphorbia cotinifolia L. ‘is used to kill fish in running water, 1 
litre being sufficient to kill all fish in a distance of 1 or 2 miles.” 


909871—52——16 231 


YBY BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Butn, 151 


(2) Potson-bait fishing.—The actions of various plant toxins differ. 
Some are stomach poisons; others affect the functioning of the respira- 
tory apparatus of the fish through haemolysis of the red blood cor- 
puscles; still others affect the nervous system. Commonly the toxic 
principle in plants used as piscicides are found to be saponins 
(sapotoxins), alkaloids, and glucosides. Some plant toxins act as 
stomach poisons. In this latter case, the plant may be ground up and 
mixed with bait into small pellets. These, when thrown into the 
water and swallowed, soon bring the dead fish floating to the surface. 

(3) Fish poisoning uith inorganic chemical substances—The use 
of inorganic chemicals for fish poisoning has not been treated in this 
paper. Its occurrence should at least be noted. Lime, produced from 
calcined coral, is used in the western Pacific in the following manner: 
A water hole or slow-moving stream is selected, lime is thrown in with 
the immediate effect of killing (noé narcotizing) all the fish. This is 
a very wasteful procedure, and is less favored than the use of plant 
poisons which act as stupefacients.” The use of lime in fishing has 
also been noted for the Nicobar Islands (Whitehead, 1924, p. 99), in 
ancient Italy, India (Khan, 1930, p. 193), the Malay Peninsula 
(Anon., 1898, p. 217), France (Anon., 1884, p. 186), and Palestine 
(Hornell, 1941, p. 127). 

(4) ‘Fish Smoking.’”’—So far as I have been able to determine, this 
is a fishing method restricted to two Northern Paiute (Paviotso) groups 
of the Great Basin area of western Nevada. A fire was built near the 
water’s edge and the smoke fanned out over the water; the result being 
that the fish (brook trout) floated to the surface. It is not clear how 
this method works, since the plant which was burned is not mentioned.’ 


BOTANICAL LISTS IN THE SOURCES 


Ernst, 1881. Fish-poison plants listed under 17 families; pp. 144-146. 

Fagundes, 1935. Alphabetical list (by genera) of fish-poison and insecticidal 
plants; pp. 70-74. 

Greshoff I. Alphabetical index of plant families; pp. 176-179. Alphabetical 
index of genera and species; pp. 180-201. (Italicized names are fish-poison 
plants). 

Greshoff II. Alphabetical index of plant families; pp. 199-204 (includes the 
plants treated in this work and in Greshoff I (1898), pp. 176-179). Alpha- 
betical index of genera and species; pp. 205-243. 

Greshoff III. Alphabetical list of genera and species with the family to which 
each belongs; pp. 165-179. Alphabetical list of families, genera, species, 
and folk names of all plants treated in Greshoff I, II, III; pp. 181-370. 


7 Hamlyn-Harris and Smith, 1916, p. 2 (Solomon Islands). 

8 Pliny the Elder (Natural History, Book 25, ch. 54) cited by Hamlyn-Harris and Smith, 1916, p. 2; Butler, 
1930, pp. 150-151. 

® Stewart, 1941, element 293a, note p. 426. 


Aurea Par. ABORIGINAL FISH POISONS—HBIZER 233 


Hamlyn-Harris and Smith, 1916. Fish-poison plants arranged under 16 orders; 
pp. 7-22. Classification of fish-poison plants into four groups according to 
efficiency, p. 7. 

Howes, 1930. Index to fish-poison plants arranged alphabetically by genera; pp. 
151-153. 

Radikofer, 1887. List of fish-poison plants subsumed under 35 orders; pp. 401- 
415. 

Raizada and Varma, 1937. List of 53 Indian fish-poison plants under 30 families; 
pp. 204-215. 

Vellard, 1941. South American fish-poison plants listed under 11 families; pp. 
82-84. 


SOURCE LISTS OF GENERA CONTAINING CERTAIN PLANT TOXINS 


Cyanophoric: Greshoff II, pp. 21, 71; Greshoff, 1906; Pammel, 1911, pp. 89-90, 53. 

Sapotoxin: Greshoff I, pp. 27, 33; Greshoff II, pp. 8, 34; Greshoff III, passim; 
Hamlyn-Harris and Smith, 1916, p. 7; Pammel, 1911, p. 89; Vellard, 1941, 
pp. 86-94. 

Cumarine: Greshoff II, pp. 11, 92; Greshoff III, pp. 9-10. 

Cytisine: Greshoff II, p. 44. 

Andrometoxine: Greshoff II, p. 96. 

Berberine: Greshoff II, p. 17. 

Rotenone: Filho, 1935, pp. 20-21. 

For further data, see the special literature: e. g., Allen (1929), Henry (1924). 


BIBLIOGRAPHIES IN THE SOURCE ACCOUNTS 


Ernst, 1881. In the text of the article, passim; pp. 135-143. 

Fagundes, 1935. Bibliography, pp. 74-75. 

Greshoff I. Bibliography, pp. 169-170. 

Greshoff II. Bibliography, p. 187. 

Greshoff III. Bibliography, pp. 163-164. 

Hamlyn-Harris and Smith, 1916. Footnotes 1-50, passim. 

Howes, 1930. Bibliography, pp. 149-150. 

Radlkofer, 1887. Sources listed passim in the text section; pp. 179-401. 
Stokes, 1921. Footnotes 1-25, passim, and bibliography, pp. 232-233. 


FOLK NAMES OF FISH-POISON PLANTS FOUND IN THE SOURCES 


Ernst, 1881, passim, p. 147. 

Fagundes, 1935, passim, pp. 70-74. 

Filho, 1935, pp. 18-20. 

Greshoff I, passim. 

Greshoff II, pp. 246-253. 

Greshoff ITI, pp. 181-370. 

Hamlyn-Harris and Smith, 1916, pp. 7-22, passim. 
Heizer, 1949. 

Howes, 1930, pp. 151-153. 

Killip and Smith, 1930, pp. 74-77. 

Killip and Smith, 1931, passim. 

Killip and Smith, 1935, pp. 20-27. 

Radlkofer, 1887, pp. 379-401, passim, 415-416. 
Vellard, 1941, pp. 81, 82-84. 

Roark, 1936, pp. 2-12. 

Roark, 1938, pp. 3-10. 


234 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL 151 


THE ORIGINS OF FISH POISONING 


The origins of fish drugging are a matter of some theoretical interest. 
Like most beginnings, however, we are without proof as to place, time, 
or manner. All we can at present hope to do is to furnish data from 
which one might infer the manner of origins. 

Notwithstanding the fact that the first use of plants as piscicides 
may have been accidental, their purposive use depends basically 
upon one principle, namely, the empirical recognition of their toxic 
properties. To conceive of primitives as slavishly following the cus- 
tom of pounding certain plant roots, throwing them in the water, and 
seeing stupefied fish come to the surface, without their having some 
idea that the plant contained poisonous properties and that the drugged 
fish resulted from their action, is impossible. In short, the custom 
among primitive peoples of fish drugging rests on an empirical basis; 
a definite cause-and-effect relation based on observation is implied. 

Greshoff (I, II, III, passim; 1909) gives citations which indicate 
that primitive peoples the world over recognize and use plants for such 
purposes as anthelmintics, emetics, narcotics, intoxicants, soaps, insec- 
ticides, abortives, antidotes, purgatives, medicines, arrow poisons, 
vermicides, counterirritants, sedatives, bait poisons, febrifuges, 
aphrodisiacs, and stimulants. It is well known among certain primi- 
tives that animals find certain herbs poisonous. Pastoralists find, 
particularly among the Leguminosae, plants which poison their stock. 
It would seem that some empirical observation of poisons would be 
almost impossible for any native group to avoid. This would be 
most common on the hunting-fishing rather than a “civilization” 
level of culture, and generally it is in the former groups that the 
best practical application of this knowledge for food getting is made. 

It is probable that fish stupefying was not invented by coastal 
people dealing with large bodies of water who gather fish there by 
mechanical means (i. e., hooks, nets, weirs, or harpoons), but probably 
_ by interior peoples who had access to small, quiet streams and to whom 
fish was probably a subsidiary item of the dietary. No primitive 
people seem anywhere to follow fish poisoning as a primary economic 
pursuit—to do so consistently and over a long period of time would 
exhaust the stream population.” It would appear, therefore, to be 
an addition to a hunting-gathering type of existence. Its position in 
such a society would, therefore, seem to be that of an auxiliary food- 
getting technique. Where fish poisoning is a coastal trait, it seems to 


10 This applies more to settled groups, permanently resident on some stream. Wandering, nomadic 
groups with a seasonal round through a circumscribed, but extensive territory, might not visit a stream in 
which fish stupefying had been practiced for several months, thus allowing the stream to maintain its pop- 
ulation. Cornevin (1887, pp. 425-426, cited by Greshoff I, p. 97) discusses the effect of poisons in killing 
fish and smaller life forms in water courses. 


Eg al ABORIGINAL FISH POISONS—-HEIZER 235 


have come out of the interior... Where it is found on the coast, it is a 
technique specifically applied to tidal pools (e. g., Oceania); as often 
as not there (as also on the California coast) it is a means of catching 
sea life other than fish, such as octopus, shrimp, and crayfish. 

Theoretically, the most simple origin of fish drugging would result 
from the observation of fish eating, or being otherwise affected by, 
poisonous fruits which fell into a pool from overhanging branches.” 
This is Aristotelian in its logic, simplicity, and, one might add, 
improbability. 

Fish weirs made of branches of poisonous trees or brush might 
naturally dissolve out toxic substances acting as a stupefacient. This, 
too, seems only a logical possibility. 

Greshoff (I, p. 102) reproduces an interesting statement to the effect 
that, ‘The bark [of Echaltium piscidium Wight in India] contains a 
great deal of fibrous matter, used by the natives as a substitute for 
hemp. In steeping some of the young shoots in a fish pond, in order 
to hasten the removal of the bark and cleaning the fibers, many, if not 
all, the fishes were killed.’”” In some such accidental manner as this, 
natives might be led to recognize the piscicidal qualities of certain 
plants. A similar example is given by Marsh, Clawson, and Marsh.® 

The poorer people among the Greeks and Romans and the Cynic 
philosophers made use of lupine meal in bread. The bitter principle 
(lupanine, a plant alkaloid) was recognized not only as disagreeable 
but as injurious, and the seed was especially prepared to get rid of this 
property. Among the Greeks the seeds were cooked till soft, to 
remove the outer skin, then placed in sacks in shallow places on the 
seashore to wash out the bitter principle. Afterward the seeds were 
dried, ground in a hand mill, and baked into a poor bread. 

The use of saponaceous plants for soaps is widely known * among 
primitive peoples. Very commonly, too, sapotoxic plants are used 
as fish poisons.* Thus, using saponaceous plants in water might have 
the incidental effect of narcotizing fish in the vicinity and thus lead 
to recognition of their toxic property. However, we do not know 
whether the use of saponaceous plants for soap preceded the use of 


11 Note, for example, California, where the great bulk of fish poisoning is interior; in its northward spread 
it apparently went through the interior instead of along the Oregon coast. 

12 See Swanton, 1931, p. 55. In Mississippi, the “Winter berries’’ (Iler verticillata) which fall into a stream 
naturally drive the fish away. E. B. Tylor (1925, p. 213) postulates fish poisoning as originating from 
branches of toxic plants of trees or poison fruits falling into the water. 

18 1916, p. 2 (after Landerer). (See also Cornevin, 1887, p. 314, for the same data.) 

14 Water soaking to remove bitter substances is extremely widespread as I have shown in a separate paper 
on leaching. Mention may be made here of the Californian example of leaching buckeye nuts (Aesculus) 
to remove the cyanophoric content, and also of the fact that buckeye nuts are used as a fish posion. (See 
Barrett and Gifford, 1933, pp. 148-149, Miwok; Beals, 1933, p. 351, Nisenan; Driver, 1936, p. 187, Wappo; 
Loeb, 1926, p. 173, Pomo.) 

15 Bibliography of saponin plants in Greshoff III, 1913, p. 9. (See also Rose, 1899, pp. 231-237.) 

16 See Greshoff II, footnote (1), pp, 8-9, for a list of plant families and enclosed genera which are 
saponin bearing. 


236 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY (Buty. 151 


sapotoxins as piscicides. I give here only one sample from a number 
of possible ones. The fruit of Randia dumetorum Lam. is used instead 
of soap by the hill people in many parts of the Himalayas; it is also 
used as piscicide.” This again brings up the question of the natives’ 
recognition of poisons. 

Here are a few examples of primitives who recognize plant poisons 
objectively. The natives of Madagascar say that birds die soon 
after eating the fruit of Diospyros toxicaria Hiern (Greshoff II, p. 103). 
The Ainu use a decoction of Picrasma ailanthoides Planch. bark to 
kill lice. Should deer eat the bark they soon die—hence the Ainu 
name of ‘‘deer-killing tree” (Batchelor, J., cited by Greshoff IT, p. 30). 
In India the fruit of the Hydnocarpus wightiana Bl. occasions giddiness 
if eaten, and the fruit is greedily devoured by fishes, but fish taken 
by these means are not fit to be eaten, occasioning in humans vomiting 
and other violent symptoms. The clearest demonstration of objec- 
tive recognition of poisonous principles in plants and their effects, 
both potential and applied, lies in the numerous instances of plants 
which have several distinct uses, each of which is assignable to the 
action of the contained toxin. Thus, certain plants commonly serve 
a multiple purpose as piscicide, arrow poison, narcotic, and vermicide.” 


THE CULTURAL STATUS OF PISCICIDES 


The differential use of certain plants in salt or fresh water seems to 
have an empirical basis, since the distinction is widely distributed in 
the Old and New Worlds.” The inference here is clearly that certain 
plant toxins were more effective in fresh water than in salt water and 
vice versa. Conceptually related would be the observed effect or 
noneffect of the same poison on certain fish species. For example, 
the yarau fish is said by the Makusi not to be affected by the poisonous 
juice of Lonchocarpus, but succumbs to the action of Tephrosia toxi- 
caria (Roth, Walter E., 1924, p. 204). As a further extension of the 
concept of objective differentiation in the eyes of the native there could 
- be mentioned the selective use of certain parts of plants. The toxic 
qualities of certain plant roots, fruits, and leaves differ quantita- 
tively—i. e., the poison content is variable. Diospyros fruit, Sebastiana 
sap, Verbascum seeds, Aesculus nuts, and Phyllanthus leaves seem to 
have been consistently and independently selected in widely separated 
areas—in each case we note that the toxin content is ordinarily higher 
in the part singled out for use.”! 

1 See Greshoff IT, p. 34, footnote (1), for a list of saponin-bearing fruits. Greshoff I, p. 42, describes the 
dual use (piscicide and soap) of Sapindus saponaria L. 

18 Greshoff II, p. 21: Greshoff I, pp. 19-20 (Ceylon); Greshoff ITI, p. 85; Goupil, 1812. 

” Greshoff I, II, III, passim; Howes, 1930, passim; Hamlyn-Harris and Smith, 1916, pp. 1-6. 


30 Cf. Hamlyn-Harris and Smith, 1916, p. 4 (Australia); Taylor, 1938, p. 145 (Dominica, W. Indies); Hornell, 
1941, pp. 126-127 (Palestine). 


3! See the tables in this paper. See also Radlkofer, 1887, passim. Pammel (1911, pp. 82-83) has a discus- 
sion of the varying toxicity of different parts of plants. 


Ronaayes ABORIGINAL FISH POISONS—HEIZER Zar. 


On the other hand, we must recognize that difficulty sometimes 
arises in distinguishing between real and imaginary (i. e., magical) 
poisons. In Australia, where witchcraft is linked with the concept 
of poisoning, this is often the case (Hamlyn-Harris and Smith, 1916, 
p. 3; Greshoff III, p. 89). A parallel is offered by the Pomo of west 
central California who conceive of Angelica root as a powerful magical 
substance and extend its conceptual effectiveness to employment as 
a piscicide.” Angelica seems never to have been used alone as a 
piscicide, but was always mixed with some other plant. Therefore, 
Angelica roots might have made the actual poison more effective in 
the native’s eyes. It is possible that an Indian who cast Angelica 
roots alone into the water and observed no results might blame the 
failure of the poison to act either upon counter-magic which worked 
against the Angelica, or he might have said to himself, ‘‘No fish, 
therefore not a poison.” We need further information to judge 
whether the native would rationalize or justify the noneffectiveness 
of the Angelica, or whether he would give a practical explanation in 
terms of empirically observed physiological noneffect or effect. It is 
of interest to note that these innocuous ‘‘poisons” are often mixed 
with actual, proven toxins when employed as piscicides—this would 
enable the primitive to justify his belief in their effectiveness. 

The rational basis of the use of piscicides is again brought out by 
the fact that we have ‘‘composite” fish stupefacients. Although it 
is clear that magical and actual poisons are sometimes confused,” 
there are numerous instances on record of compounding two or more 
plants with definite piscicidal properties. These mixtures came 
about probably as an elaboration in technique; thus, if a group 
originally knew only a single plant, then tested and used other plants 
by extension of the idea,™ they might ultimately wish to combine 
several stupefacients into a single mixture. This is apparently what 
has occurred in several places independently.”® 


22 Gifford and Kroeber, 1937, p. 320. A similar situation comes to mind with reference to south Alaskan 
whaling, where magical poisons seem always to have been applied along with a herb poison (root extract 
of Aconitum) to the detachable slate lance head. (See Heizer, 1938, p. 359.) 

23 In addition, all sorts of social customs may impinge on the action of fish poisons. For example, among 
the Malaya Negritos pregnant females may not accompany a fishing party nor may the fishers mention 
Malays, blood, jungle leeches, or the private parts of a man or woman, lest poor results attend the venture 
(Evans, 1937, p. 219). The Guatemalan Chorti use fish poisons only when the moon is in quarter-stage 
‘when the plants are supposed to be most toxic’? (Wisdom, 1940, pp. 77-78). 

% Asclepias curassirica L., a native of the West Indies, made its appearance in Queensland about 50 years 
ago. It was tested and found suitable as a piscicide by the Don River natives. It has been further used 
as a love charm by the men of the Penney Feather district (Hamlyn-Harris and Smith, 1916, p.18). This 
is a provable case of natives testing, observing, and applying a new plant asa piscicide. In Fiji, according 
to Hornell (1941, pp. 127-128), Derris malaccensis Prain was introduced from New Guinea, but is used by 
the natives as a piscicide. 

15 See, e. g., W. Africa (Tessmann, 1913, pp. 111-112); Siauw (Greshoff IT, pp. 180-181); California (Chest- 
nutt, 1902). 


238 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL, 151 


That stupefying fish by the use of plant toxins is not an exag- 
geratedly simple procedure is brought out by the fact that usable 
plant species are almost invariably more widely distributed than their 
recorded use as piscicides.””> Perhaps local custom and the knowl- 
edge of several adequate plants in a group’s habitat has a sufficient 
cultural force to offer resistance, or at any rate, lack of interest, in 
learning of additional plants with piscicidal properties from neigh- 
boring groups. This would be a hindering factor to diffusion once 
the process was known and culturally established in a given habitat. 
This is only one possible explanation of why people do not use one 
particular plant which is favored elsewhere. 

Certain plants vary in their toxin content according to the time 
of year. In parts of California, for example, seasonal habitat shifts 
were reflected in moving to the mountams in summer and to the 
valley plains in the winter—a high toxin content in summer lowland 
plants might result in their piscicidal qualities not being recognized ” 
or exploited. 

Fish narcotizing is, however, a simple enough technique, dependent 
upon the observation of toxic principles in plants and their physiologi- 
cal effects, so that the possibility of an independent or convergent 
development seems not unlikely. The origins of the whole technique 
are obscure, but we can point to certain other parallels in parts of the 
piscicidal complex, aside from the fundamental one of the recognition 
of toxic properties in plants, which suggest that the mind of primitive 
man sometimes hits upon the same idea in widely separated areas. 
In Malaysia * and northern South America” the plants are put in a 
canoe, water is added, the plant materials are crushed and the result- 
ing infusion dumped out by overturning the canoe. In both areas 
this is a community undertaking in the nature of a holiday. Another 
parallel is that of poison-bait fishing wherein the piscicide often acts 
as a true stomach poison rather than having a narcotic effect on the 
respiratory apparatus. The Malayan fish poison, “aker tuba”’ roots, 
‘ is ground or pounded into a fine powder and mixed with a stiff clay 
and crushed refuse, such as shrimps or small fish. This mixture is 
made into balls, dried, and thrown into the sea like ground bait 
(Greshoff II, pp. 60-61; III, p. 82). In Guiana (Pomeroon and 
Moruca River Caribs) Clibadvum asperum leaves are pounded, mixed 

2% J have investigated the botanical distribution of California fish-drugging plants and find that these 
plants, in every case, have a much wider natural distribution than that of their cultural (i. e., piscicidal) 
use (Heizer, 1941, p. 44). Vellard (1941, p. 84) makes the same point for South America. Merrill (1923) 
found the same to be true in a study of California plant materials used in basketry. 

27.A similar situation referable to the availability of particular plants is mentioned by Hamlyn-Harris 
and Smith (1916, p. 3) for Australia. (See also Greshoff I, p. 90; Pammel, 1911, pp. 83-85.) 

28 Sumatra (Greshoff IT, pp. 49-51); an excellent eyewitness account. 


% Killip and Smith (1931) present a vivid circumstantial account with numerous photographs. (See 
also Roth, Walter E., 1924, p. 203.) 


aurea: ABORIGINAL FISH POISONS—-HEIZER 239 


with finely cut meat, and made into small balls which are thrown 
into the water like bait (Roth, Walter E., 1924, pp. 203-204). This 
technique is also used in Samoa (Buck, 1930, pp. 443-444; Hamlyn- 
Harris and Smith, 1916, pp. 4-5). A somewhat specialized variant is 
recorded for the Caribs of Dominica: 


. & length of caapi (species of ivy) is passed through a bit of raw manioc 
which is then hung in the water, the other end of the caapi being attached to a 
rock or stone on the bank. Returning some hours later, usually after dark, the 
fisherman finds a quantity of stupefied crayfish collected around the manioc, 
whose poisonous juice has rendered them incapable of flight [Taylor, 1938, p. 145]. 


Most fish poisons act fairly rapidly, their full effect being arrived at 
ordinarily within a half hour. Noticeable, then, is the employment of 
certain plant materials whose action is very slow. I refer here to the 
use of tannins, whose effectiveness depends on abundance rather than 
on a small quantity of powerful, quick-acting toxin. The use of 
plants with a high tannic-acid content has been hit upon both by 
certain natives of Australia and by the Cocopa of the Lower Colorado 
River. Tannin has astringent properties which have the physiological 
effect of interfering with the function of the gills. 

Roth describes the Australian procedure as follows: 

In the Cloncurry, Woonamurra, and Leichhardt-Selwyn Districts, especially 
with large water holes, numerous leafy boughs and branches of ‘‘gum-tree”’ (Hucalyp- 
tus microthera F. Muell.) (Mitakoodi, joo-a-ro) are utilized for a similar purpose. 
The whole camp of blacks working at it, will start throwing these in the first 
thing in the morning; during the day the water becomes darker and darker and 
strongly smelling until by the following morning at sunrise when it is almost black, 
the fish all lie panting at the surface and are easily caught. [Roth, Walter E., 1897, © 
pp. 95-96. See also, Hamlyn-Harris and Smith, 1916, pp. 6-7, 15.] 

Gifford says of the Cocopa: ® ‘No true fish poison, but small pond 
covered with willow (Salix) leaves, which discolored water, causing 
fish to rise in 2 or 3 days.” 

Just how such plants with slow-acting tanniferous properties came 
to be applied as piscicides is hard to say. Perhaps the origin lies in 
observation through accident. It is a relatively uncommon method, 
however, and mainly of interest here in illustrating a parallel in 
method in widely separated areas. 

The application of plant poisons to water holes for catching game 
is, of course, widely known among primitive peoples. In a well- 
watered country there is little chance of catching animals by poisoning 
water holes. In an arid region where streams are scarce and water 
holes are important as a source of water for game, such a procedure 
is an effective one. Thus, it is a commonly known practice in South- 


3 Gifford, 1933, p. 268. See also Gillin 1936, p. 13 (Wa’u poison of British Guiana). Spier (1933, p. 291) 
notes a rather puzzling case which may refer to piscicides, 


240 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLL. 151 


west Africa, among North African Arabs, in Australia, Arabia, and 
the Intermontane Plateau of the western United States southward 
through northern Mexico. I give two typical citations of this practice 
from widely separated areas: Beals (1932, p. 103) says the Opata 
poisoned deer by putting yerba de flecha (Sebastiana palmeri Riley) 
in the water holes. Spencer (1896, p. 52) says the Australians put the 
leaves and twigs of Duboisia hopwoodii*! in the water hole; emu drink 
the impregnated water, become dizzy, and are easily killed. This 
hunting method may or may not be a specialized variant of the use of 
piscicides, since it is in vogue in some places where fish poisoning is 
absent. 

Howes has emphasized an extremely interesting feature connected 
with fish drugging—that of aboriginal cultivation of the plants used. 
This agricultural aspect of piscicides elevates fish drugging from the 
hunting-fishing stage to the sedentary agricultural level. It is per- 
haps a technique which has the status of a survival when present 
among the latter groups.” It is possible, since the practice of fish 
stupefying is essentially a food-getting technique, that farming popula- 
tions might partly supplant the fish item of the dietary by grains, 
which would lead to the relinquishment of wholesale fishing. This 
might obscure (to choose a theoretical unproven example, in Mesopo- 
tamia or lower Egypt) the former use of piscicides through dependence 
on a cultivated-cereal-domesticated-animal-meat diet. Of course, in 
tropical South America (e. g., in the Guianas), hunting and fishing 
are important dietary adjuncts to cultivated maize, cassava, etc. 
There is little doubt that fish drugging is an old cultural feature in 
South America, and it is logical to suppose that after these tribes 
learned to cultivate plants (manioc, maize) * they extended the tech- 
nique of planting maize or cassava to certain plants which were 
used as fish poisons.** 

Historical data on the introduction of plants offer an interesting 
sidelight on our problem of placing fish drugging in its proper per- 
spective within the total cultural picture. Euphorbia tirucalli L. has 
been introduced from its homeland in East Africa to West India and 


31 This is the famous pifuri, the Australian narcotic. Again we see two uses, widely different in the concep- 
tion of the natives, of the same plant. The meaning (i. e., the psychological associations which the plant has 
to the native user) in terms of attitudes is different in the eyes of the primitive. (See Basedow, 1929, p. 139.) 

32 The question of survival in other areas immediately comes up. In the British Isles fish drugging is a 
poacher’s technique among the “lower classes’”—the gentleman’s method of fishing is by hook-and-line. If 
fish stupefying were au old trait, it is among the former we should expect to find it. It is really a means of 
securing food in quantity—it is not a sport as such, although most primitive peeples seem to have fun doing it. 

33 For a list of cultivated food plants in South Amcrica, see Safford (1917, 1927). Nordenskiéld (1920, pp. 
168 ff.) indicates that in large parts of South America the cultivation of maize and sweetpotato are fairly 
recent cultural acquisitions. ; 

64 The listing and distribution of cultivated plants used for piscicides is too extensive to cite in fuil. For 
typical cases, see Howes, 1930, pp. 135, 137 (British Guiana); Hura crepitans L. in Mexico (Rose, 1899, p. 257); 
Piper methysticum Forst. in Hawaii (Beckley, 1883, p.11); Africa (Howes, 1930, p. 183); Killip and Smith, 
1931, pp. 403 ff. (tropical South America). 


ae ee ABORIGINAL FISH POISONS—HEIZER 241 


the Moluccas, and has been recognized by the natives as amenable to 
use as a piscicide (Radlkofer, 1887, p. 413). Nicotiana tabacum L. 
has been selected, among other cultivated plants in eastern India, as a 
fish stupefacient.* This is of interest, for various Nicotiana species 
have been used as piscicides in other parts of the world (Greshoff I, 
p. 108; II, p. 119; III, pp. 140, 141). It is difficult to see any connec- 
tion between tobacco smoking or chewing and fish drugging aside 
from the fact that through smoking or masticating one might recog- 
nize in Nicotiana certain physiological effects which conceivably 
could lead to testing the plant for its piscicidal potentialities (cf. Miner, 
1939). In all probability, the Nicotiana plants were tested along with 
many others in view of their employment as a piscicide and found use- 
ful. Actually, the sedentary hunters and fishers might be expected not 
to practice fish drugging extensively since the streams in their restricted 
habitat could thus be easily entirely fished out by consistent applica- 
tion of piscicides. It is a technique better suited to wandering groups 
of hunters and gatherers, since they would roam over a wider area, 
in whose streams natural propagation of the fish population would be 
easily maintained (Greshoff I, II, III, passim; 1909). Although there 
is much specific data on conservation of fish and game on the primitive 
level, I know of no primitive people who specifically refuse to practice 
fish drugging for this reason.** It is true, however, that a widely 
spread primitive recognition of wastefulness that ensues from this 
method of fishing results in techniques of control.” 

As different groups throughout the world have experimented with 
fish poisons, they must have learned that many, while effectively 
stupefying the fish, at the same time so contaminated the fish that 
they were not edible (e. g., Greshoff I, pp. 10, 19-20; Bacon, 1906, p. 
1026). Such plants would be used only once—ever after to be remem- 
bered as a plant to be avoided. Thus most of the recorded fish poisons 
are not stomach poisons, though they are probably poisonous when 
injected intravenously. A very clear and quite typical statement as 
illustration follows: 

These saponins (of Ganophyllum obliquum Merr.) are particularly advantageous 


for use as fish poisons, because, whereas many are very poisonous when injected 
(intravenously), they are usually only slightly so when taken into the stomach 


% Ernst, 1881, cited by Radlkofer, 1887, p. 411. Greshoff I, p. 108. 

3% See Howes, 1930, pp. 143, 147-148; Greshoff III, pp. 39, for information on European legislation against 
the practice of drugging fish. Butler (1930, p. 133) notes a canon of the law from Plato that it ‘‘is not for- 
bidden to fish in harbors or in sacred rivers, marshlands, and lakes, provided that he shall not cloud the 
water with drugs.” 

37 E. g., Taylor, 1938, p. 145: ‘The babarra apples are also crushed, but are enclosed in a basket which is 
immersed only for the time being, as it would poison the water for almost a week were it left here.’? The 
use of excessively potent stupefacients with semipermanent effects might explain the parallel ‘“‘sousing”’ 
technique of applying piscicides in Australia (Roth, quoted by Howes, 1930, p. 145). 

33 I have not thought it necessary to give citations on this aspect of fish drugging—they occur randomiy 
through Greshoff I, II, III, and Howes, 1930. 


942 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY {BULL 151 


so that even if the fish is somewhat contaminated with these substances, no harm 
will come from eating it. [Greshoff III, p. 83.] 

While on the subject ot the nature of the effect of piscicides, it is 
of interest to note that Chestnut recorded from California a native 
explanation of mechanical, rather than toxicological effects: 

The exact cause of the stupefying or crazing effect [of EHremocarpus setigerus 

(Hook) Benth.] is not known. Some Indians attribute it to the stellate hairs 
which, they say, attach themselves to the eyes and gills and make them frantic. 
If these should become thus attached, they would undoubtedly cause great dis- 
tress, but the chemical qualities of the plant may easily account for the effect. 
(Chestnut, 1902, p. 366.] 
This case throws possible light on native thought, and may be inter- 
preted in this way; Numerous stellate hairs are noticeable on dove 
weed, for the plant is covered with them like a thick, gray fuzz. But 
the recorded physiological effects do not necessitate the conclusion 
that the fish became frantically annoyed—rather, a phytotoxin is 
indicated. Greshofi (III, p. 231) lists 15 species of Croton, a genus 
related to Hremocarpus, used as piscicides, and it is known that Croton 
genus produces a toxalbumin (crotin) which does act as a powerful fish 
stupefacient. Thus, I am inclined to consider the Indian explanation, 
in this case, as a rationalization suggested by the presence of the 
stellate hairs. A similar explanation might arise in the case of stinging 
nettles, though I have not found any reference to it.® 

In most cases the toxic plant juices merely have to be freed from 
the leaves by crushing and soaking. It is, therefore, of interest to 
note a variation of this simple method which consists of gently roast- 
ing the bark or roots in order to partially free the poison principle. 
Howes “ states that in Nigeria and the Cameroons the natives half- 
roast thick pieces of the stem of the climber, Ophiocaulon cissampe- 
loides Hook. f., pound them and cast them into the water. ‘The toxic 
principle is identified as free hydrocyanic acid. In Queensland 
(Hamlyn-Harris and Smith, 1916, pp. 3, 9) the bark of Jagera pseu- 
_ dorhus Radlk. (Cupania pseudorhus A. Rich.) is cooked in the native 
ovens for about half an hour and put in the pond. This genus 
is listed by Greshoff as cyanophoric. The third parallel, but of a 
somewhat different nature, is that of the knowledge among the 
natives of the Amazon region in South America, of driving off the 
hydrocyanic acid contained in Manthot esculenta Crantz (M. utilissima) 
by the application of heat.*! What is important here is to indicate 
the parallel in three areas to the effect that heat will free hydrocyanic 

% Tt is of interest to note here that the Chorti Indians of Guatemala say that the plant saps (see table 9) 
‘‘burn the eyes of the fish causing them to thrust their heads above water to escape the pain’’ (Wisdom, 
1940, pp. 77-78). 

40 1930, p. 133. See also Hamlyn-Harris and Smith, 1916, p. 20. 


41 A parallel is offered by the Iroquois who roast Arwm triphyllum roots to free them of their cyanophoric 
content. (See Parker, 1910, p. 107.) 


Hoge ds ABORIGINAL FISH POISONS—HEIZER 243 


acid contained in certain plants.“ Apparently the gentle application 
of heat serves to disturb and bring out the acid; prolonged heat will 
free the roots or bark entirely of the poisonous principle. 


SIGNIFICANCE OF AREAL DISTRIBUTIONS 


AUSTRALIA 


Hamlyn-Harris and Smith “ have outlined the Australian ocurrences 
of fish poisoning as generally distributed with the exception of the 
arid regions of central and south Australia. The most intensive use 
definitely centers in northeastern Australia (specifically Queensland). 
These authors have performed experimental tests with fish-poison 
plants “* and have arrived at the following classification of plants 
according to their efficiency: 


Group A.—FEffective and rapid in action at great dilution: Derris, Tephrosia, 
Pongamia, ‘‘ Nero,” containing active principles associated with ether-soluble 
resins; the sapotoxin-containing Careya, Cupania, Faradaya, Garcinia. 

Group B.—Poisons of intermediate effect: Barringtonia speciosa, Stephania 
hernandiaefolia—alkaloid-containing. 

Group C.—Poisons of lesser effect, slow in action at higher concentrations or 
uncertain in action: Acacia, Albizzia, Eucalyptus, Thespesia, Terminalia, 
Polygonum. 

Group D.—Reputed poisons, found innocuous: Sarcocephalus, Pleiogynium, 
Petalostigma, Alocasia, Asclepias (?). 


As to whether the use of piscicides in Australia is due to independent 
development or to diffusion from outside is a difficult question to 
decide. Hamlyn-Harris and Smith say: 


The possibility of the introduction of the custom from such quarter (Malaysia 
or Melanesia) must be judged on general grounds and by the standard of recog- 
nized external influence upon aboriginal customs. 

Considering the universality of fish-poisoning it is not unjustifiable to assume 
an independent origin among the Australian aborigines, and the evolution of an 
empirical knowledge of efficient piscicides. [Hamlyn-Harris and Smith, 1916, 
pp. 2-3.] 4 

Two facts must be noted which have a bearing upon this conclusion. 
The first is the continuous Australian distribution of fish drugging; 
the second is the decided emphasis on fish stupefying in the region 
adjoining Melanesia, the same area in which, in other aspects of cul- 
ture, the most pronounced external cultural influence has been re- 
ceived, viz, Queensland. I offer here an alternative theory to that 

«2 There is a discussion along the lines suggested here in my separate study of leaching plant foods. 

431916, pp. 1-22 (a general discussion of Australian fish drugging). This paper, with that of Maiden’s 
(1894) covers the subject quite adequately. Both contain bibliographic data on local groups. Howes 
(1930, pp. 142-146) has a general discussion of Australian piscicides which includes some new data. 

4 All but the most general statements in reference to the pharmacological effects of piscicides are avoided 
here, since there are published data on this aspect (Greshoff I, II, III; Howes, 1930; Hamlyn-Harris and 


Smith, 1916; Hanriot, 1907; Greshoff, 1898; van Hasselt, 1910). 
45 Howes, 1930, p. 142, occurs in this conclusion. 


[BuLu. 151 


BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 


244 


“suruosiod ysy Jo uoryNqI4sIP P'OM—'s AV 


ANISEY YO GILYOPTUNN ININOSIOS HS1S 


ANISIUS 
AITVATVYOSS YO CIYUFIINI ININOSIOd HS/A 


ANINAOTIAIG JO SYFLNID FAILVINIL 
ANISTYS ONINOS/Od HSIA FEES 


ININOSIOd HSt4 SO NOILNGIYLSIG G7¢OM 


oe ats 
C i ¢ 


So ABORIGINAL FISH POISONS—HEIZER 245 
proposed by Hamlyn-Harris and Smith. The concept of fish drugging 
may have entered Australia ultimately from Southeast Asia via Ma- 
laysia and western Melanesia. It was first received by the Queens- 
land natives on Cape York Peninsula, where the center of development 
is noted. From there fish poisoning diffused through Australia wher- 
ever it was environmentally acceptable.** It did not reach Tasmania. 
In the present discussion we have repeatedly seen that the Australians 
exercised ingenuity in regard to the application of fish stupefacients. 
This leads to the conclusion that the Australian evolution, i. e., the 
further development of piscicides aside from the original introduction, 
was autochthonous and had little or no relation to historical develop- 
ments outside Australia. This is the only logical inference, since it is 
impossible to conceive of the Australians accepting from outside 
sources their every technique of preparation and application of the 
many plants used as piscicides. 


SOUTHERN ASIA AND MALAYSIA 


It is difficult to draw hard-and-fast geographical boundaries and 
discuss the use of piscicides within such areas for the reason that such 
distinctions are arbitrary and do not delimit areas in which fish 
poisons are used—they are geographical labels which give us a starting 
point for discussion. 

A great block of near-universal application of piscicides appears on 
map 2. This runs from Persia in the west to North China on the east 
and southward from this line to include India, Burma, and the Malay 
Peninsula. Eastern India and Burma seem to be the climax area of 
this defined distribution. The obvious extensions are into the Indian 
Ocean to include Ceylon, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the great 
Malaysian islands (Sumatra, Borneo, Java, Celebes), and the islands 
to the north (the Philippines, Formosa, and Japan). This whole great 
area is, in a great many ways, composed of a series of historically re- 
lated units—separate histories have occurred, but in no single case 
have they been entirely independent of that of their neighbors. Thus, 
when we find a commonly distributed element of culture, we immedi- 
ately suspect historical causes (i. e., diffusion) as an explanation. 


OCEANIA 


This area, in a geographical sense, includes the three great cultural 
areas of the Pacific island world—Polynesia, Micronesia, and Mel- 
anesia. 

It appears from the sources consulted that piscicides are generally 


This hypothesis is compatible with other historical deductions formed on the basis of geographical dis- 
tribution. (See Davidson, 1936, and Warner, 1932, for studies of this type.) 


246 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY (Buby. 151 


distributed throughout this whole great island area.” They occur in 
Hawaii, the Caroline and Marianas Islands, the Solomon Islands, and 
New Guinea, to name typical places of each culture area (see table 2 
for fuller occurrences). Fresh-water streams or tidal pools would be 
the best-suited places for fish drugging. Where piscicides are not used 
in the area the possible explanations of absence may be several. Pisci- 
cides may once have been known and subsequently given up in favor 
of netting, spearing, or hook-and-line techniques. Or the environ- 
ment itself may be at fault in offering no convenient places to narcotize 
fish. Although the use of kava in Hawaii as a bait poison for sharks is 
included under our broad classification of fish drugging, it actually is 
not a stupefying technique as such, but is perhaps related in concept 
to the whole use of bait poisons. 

Oceania, as defined here, is an area with a relatively continuous 
distribution of the use of piscicides. Knowing as we do the great 
importance diffusion has played in the formation of these various 
insular cultures, there is strongly suggested the possibility that 
Oceanian occurrences of piscicides are due to diffusion” and that 
Oceanian fish drugging is a historical entity, its ultimate origin being 
Asiatic. 

AFRICA 


Piscicides are in general use throughout Africa with the exception 
of the Sahara and Kalahari Desert regions. The blank area of 
British and Italian Somaliland may be misleading, since there is no 
information at all on the possible presence or absence of the complex 
in that area. At best, however, these territories are arid and hardly 
constitute a locale where one would expect to find piscicides in com- 
mon use. 

The area of greatest elaboration (i. e., techniques of application 
and diversity of plants used) seems definitely to be in West Africa 
in the Cameroons—French Equatorial Africa-Belgian Congo region. 

Plants used for fish drugging are often cultivated in Africa. This 
leads to the inference that we are dealing with a very old trait in 
certain agricultural groups.” The parallel with South America is 


47 For general data, see Stokes, 1921. 

‘8 Hamlyn-Harris and Smith (1916, pp. 1-2), who knew of no fish poisoning in New Zealand, attempted 
to explain the nonoccurrence as possibly due to the presence of boats and fishing gear by an expert fishing 
people. However, this does not hold for the rest of our large area, so there must be some other explanation. 
I have found only one reference to fish drugging (with Lepidiwm oleraceum Forst.) in New Zealand (Radl- 
kofer, 1887, p. 402). Fish drugging is apparently uncommon, however, and as a possible explanation I sub- 
mit the theory that the Maori colonizers of New Zealand did not find suitable plants in their new habitat, 
or they lacked interest in testing new plants because their other means of fishing were sufficient for their 
needs. I do not think this problem concerning New Zealand can be answered in general terms—the answer 
lies probably in specific facts which we do not have on record. 

49 Cf. the words for fish poisoning: In Rarotonga (Cook Islands) it is hora; in Hawaii the word is hola. 

50“ Mundulea suberosa (DC) Benth . . . probably as a result of age-long cultivation has now a very wide 
range’? (Howes, 1930, p. 133). i 


a a ABORIGINAL FISH POISONS—HEIZER 247 


treated elsewhere. What is of interest is the implication it has as to 
the cultural position of such groups who practice both agriculture and 
fish drugging. We may infer that these people live in regions suitable 
to the use of piscicides, that they do not limit their dietary to culti- 
vated foods, but are interested in supplementing it with products of 
the chase. It drives home the point that settled farmers may practice 
techniques of food getting which we ordinarily think of as restricted 
to more primitive culture levels—and the techniques have undergone 
modification at the hands of the farmers. 

Madagascar has experienced profound cultural influence from the 
Malaysian area. The presence of piscicides here may either be due 
to an Asiatic source, or be derived from the African mainland. The 
use of piscicides on the Cape Verde and Canary Islands and Madeira 
is perhaps, though not certainly, ascribable to recent Spanish or 
Portuguese influence. At any rate, the intra-African occurrences of 
fish poisoning seem to be continuous and may be, ipso facto, histori- 
cally connected. There is no concrete evidence of origins in Africa, 
but (aside from the relatively recent Portuguese and Indonesian 
connecting links with extra-African cultural areas) the distribution 
(map 2) suggests the possibility of an independent African origin of 
fish drugging. Unless we weigh the other possibilities, however, a 
decision will be hard to reach. Could the use of piscicides have been 
an ancient, now-forgotten, custom along the lower Nile? Could it 
have once been connected through coastal Arabia with Persia and 
India? There are too many possibilities of this kind to allow us a 
definite opinion. African fish poisoning may be a tropical West 
African invention, later diffused generally throughout the continent. 
Or it may have been anciently related to the Euro-Asian occurrences, 
the former intermediate links not now being in evidence.” It is ever 
hazardous to postulate the loss of simple, uncomplex useful arts in 
the absence of some concrete proof.” 

The possibility of independent invention of fish poisoning would 
seem to be ever present, and in the total absence of archeological 


51 Bates’ (1917) exhaustive treatment of ancient Egyptian fishing contains no mention of piscicides. Rad- 
cliffe (1921, p. 318) says there is no evidence for Egyptian fish poisoning. 

52 The Sahara Desert region was, as recently as Late Paleolithic and even Mesolithic times, better watered 
and more fertile. If fish drugging were then present in the Saharan region, we might suspect a connection 
with Europe (especially Spain and France) which was broken with the advent of the desiccation of North 
Africa, and with Asia owing to the same phenomenon in Syria-Arabia. (See Childe, 1934, pp. 23-26; 
Wulsin, 1941, pp. 4-7). Radcliffe (1921, p. 358) after an exhaustive review of the data, concludes the 
Assyrians did not use poison in fishing. 

83 This theorem holds more for nonmaterial culture which archeology may hardly hope to throw light 
upon. For example, Killip and Smith (1931, p. 407) say, ‘‘At Manaos all agreed that the Indians of the 
upper Rio Negro and the Rio Branco used plants almost exclusively for fishing.’’ Tessmann (1930, p. 300) 
states that the Ssabela of northeastern Peru fish only with plant poisons and deny using nets, hooks, or 
spears. (See also Radcliffe, 1921, p. 318.) 


909871—52—__17 


248 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLL. 151 


evidence of fish drugging, we are not on very firm ground in attempting 
to solve the particular question concerning African piscicides. It is 
all too easy to elaborate on a concept after it is known; it is harder 
to formulate that concept for the first time. Logically, then, we 
might expect that the presence of fish poisoning would be more often 
due to historical transmission than to independent invention. The 
probabilities are theoretically enhanced when we have continuous 
distributions of single occurrences. Thus, African piscicides would 
seem to be a related unit, but the question of ultimate origin remains 
open, as shown above, to at least two possibilities. 

It is theoretically probable that the concept of fish poisoning might 
spread rather easily and quite rapidly. It is a simple, functional 
complex which would find ready acceptance * because (1) people 
already know the plants in their own environment which might be 
applied as piscicides, and (2) it is an uncomplex subsistence technique 
which yields results with a minimum of labor; in short, it is easy and 
eminently useful. Then too, primitive groups are liable to come 
into close contact along waterways and there see and learn about 
piscicidal techniques. 

EUROPE 


Fish drugging is apparently a very old practice in Europe. Perhaps 
the earliest literary reference occurs in Aristotle’s Historia Animalium, 
wherein is mentioned the use of a plant (Verbascum) for killing fish. 
Pliny also notes a plant, probably an Aristolochia species, used for 
drugging fish in Italy (Ernst, 1881, p. 136; Greshoff I, pp. 117-118). 
Dioscorides notes plants for stupefying fish. For further information 
on Greek, Roman, and Phoenician fish poisoning, the reader is referred 


54 T would emphasize this point of the uncomplex nature of the technique of fish stupefying, since it has a 
direct bearing on the “‘diffusibility” of the practice. A trait or complex cannot be easily accepted into a 
new culture unless the accepting group’s culture finds a favorable niche for it. Notwithstanding a possible 
use or need for it, the culture must be somewhat amenable in order for it to become an integrated feature— 
otherwise it appears as an excrescence and is likely to be dropped since it is at variance with the rest of the 
culture-whole. 

An illustrative example comes to mind. Whaling, on the northwest coast and in the Aleutian Islands 
was an important subsistence feature allowing a man to become wealthy and therefore to enjoy high social 
standing if he controlled the techniques. But whaling was surrounded with secrecy and excessively dan- 
gerous (to the uninitiated) ceremonial] preparations. It is not hard to see how the whaling complex might 
have a low index of diffusibility, since the prerogatives of whalers were jealously guarded secrets, and a whale 
hunter had a decided economic advantage. Whaling in at least part of this area does seem like an excres- 
ence, since it is a monopoly held only by 8 few individuals; but at the same time, a whale helps the whole 
community to eat. A complex of this sort, in order to diffuse, must do so by direct contact and personal 
instruction; fish stupefying, on the other hand, could spread by stimulus diffusion from group to group 
whose contacts were of the most tenuous sort. 

8s There is some warrant for believing that food-getting techniques or means may spread very widely— 
note the extensive distribution of maize; the metate; lye-hulling of corn; or hunting techniques such as the 
impound; or fishweirs. These are found in widely divergent types_of culture. 


ie ABORIGINAL FISH POISONS—HEIZER 249 


to table 3, and to the special literature. Early European herbals, 
statutes, plant lists, and pharmacopoeias have all contributed to the 
knowledge of piscicides in this area.” At a very early date, however, 
laws against fish drugging were instituted ® and this enlightened 
attitude toward fish conservation has probably resulted in its being 
relinquished as a commonly shared culture trait among nearly all 
European peoples who once practiced it. 

Table 3 gives numerous European occurrences of fish narcotizing.” 
There is not much to discuss, since many of the data are generalized. 
Clear and specific mentions of piscicides in Asia Minor (Turkey), 
Persia, or the Caucasus region are rare. The first two areas have 
large stretches of desert with few fish. If these apparent gaps could 
be explained away as due to environmental causes, the southern 
Asiatic piscicide area could be joined to that of Europe and we might 
relate the whole Euro-Asian occurrences into a grand unit. Until 
this is proven, however, we shall have to consider the possibility of 
Europe as a separate area of fish drugging. Northern Europe seems 
to have had little or no use for piscicides.™ 


NORTH AMERICA 


This cannot be considered, a priori, as a separate area, since it 
connects with South America through Middle America and the 


8 See Mair’s translation of Oppian’s Halieutica (Oppian, 1928, Book IV, lines 648 ff. and ftns. a, b, pp. 
452-453); Badham, 1854, p. 21; Butler, 1930, pp. 133, 150-51; Radcliffe, 1921, pp. 239-240; Aristotle, 1883, Book 
VIII, ch. XX, p. 220 (Cresswell translation). These give detailed data on the use of various piscicides 
(Verbascum, Cyclamen, Aristolochia). There is a possibility, judging from somewhat imperfect evidence, 
that the Greeks used wine for fish drugging (Butler, 1930, pp. 149-150; Radcliffe, 1921, p. 239, illustration of 
& mosaic from Melos, pl. opp. p. 240). 

87 Howes, 1930, p. 147, cites Ficalho, who notes a law of 1565 against poisoning fish with plant materials 
or chalk. This reference to chalk (presumably finely divided like our plaster-of-paris) may refer to lime 
or it may indicate the use of a ‘‘mechanical’’ piscicide which clogs the gills and suffocates the fish. As late 
as 1884 there is a mention of the use of lime in securing fish in France (Anon., 1884, p. 186). 

§8 Ernst, 1881, p. 136; Greshoff II, p. 162, Frederick II in 1212 prohibited the use of Tarus and similar 
plants in poisoning fish in the Kingdom of Sicily. 

8 T have already suggested (note 32, p. 240) that the use of this method by poachers in the British Isles or 
on the continent may be a survival, the tradition being maintained among the common people as a means 
of securing food, while legislation and custom made it impossible for a gentleman to indulge in the practice 
(Kirby, 1933). The “gentleman” is the man who already has enough to eat—he has leisure to read in Izaak 
Walton’s The Compleat Angler the “‘correct’’ method for angling. In other words, here is a survival among 
the lower classes of a technique which has persisted through need and maintained its function, viz, food 
getting. On the other hand, the function of angling (which we assume supplanted fish drugging) among 
the leisure or upper class has changed. Although the fish thus secured may be used for food, the primary 
function has become one of sport. It is not an uncommon end for utilitarian techniques or objects to be- 
come of sporting interest among the upper classes. Examples are not difficult to think of—archery, fal- 
conry, and game hunting come immediately to mind. In this way, cultural degenerations (i. e., survivals 
due to the process of what Rivers called the ‘‘disappearance of useful arts”) are of value in exhibiting cultural 
processes; they are signposts of culture change. They may often have an irrational basis, another example 
of the importance of nonutilitarian motives which have been indicated as factors of culture process else- 
where in this paper. 

60 See Howes, 1930, pp. 146-149, for a discussion of European fish poisoning. 

61 There is & single, rather doubtful reference to the use of Hyascamus niger L.. as a fish poison by the Nor- 
wegians (Janus, vol. 10, p. 600, 1905). 


250 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Buuy. 151 


Antilles. Despite this general continuity it will be worth while to 
examine what seem to be the foci of fish drugging in the New World. 


CALIFORNIA 


Map 2 shows the cartographic position of California piscicides in 
relation to the world-wide distribution. Map 3 gives the general 
distribution, in terms of presence or absence, of fish poisoning and fish 
smoking in the western United States. On the basis of numbers of 
plants used, I have suggested two centers of development or elabora- 
tion. The first includes the Pomo area, where four plants (manroot, 
turkey, mullein, soaproot, and buckeye) ® are used. The second center 
is among the southern Yokuts, where again four plants (buckeye, 
pepperwood, soaproot, and turkey mullein) are used. 

Map 4 gives the main plant forms employed in fish narcotizing, and 
is based solely on the University of California Culture Element 
Distribution series.“ J have omitted plotting on map 4 certain minor 
or rare occurrences of plants which are listed below.™ 

A comparison of the natural distribution of 12 individual plant 
species (Jepson, 1925) with the distribution of their cultural use clearly 
indicates that there is a differential of natural occurrence and cultural 
utilization, the former being the wider, the latter more restricted. The 
implication is of possible general significance, particularly in view of 
parallel examples, in demonstrating that the efficient utilization of the 
external environment depends on ‘‘cultural recognition” of the 
utilitarian possibilities of what nature offers.© 

Except in the arid southern desert region, and in northwestern 
California where the streams are probably too rapid for the use of 
plant poisons, piscicides are generally employed. Apparently deriving 
from California are the Intermontane Plateau occurrences on the 
Owens, Humboldt, and Owyhee Rivers. The few Columbia River 
groups who claim to have used piscicides probably got their knowledge 
from farther south, since piscicides are not noted farther north. There 
is no reason to postulate independent origin of the Columbia River 
enclave since the Oregon gap to the south is small, the country rather 


62 This does not include the putative fish-drugging plant, Angelica. 

63 Map 3 may be supplemented by the list given in table 7, which is made up from the ethnographic 
literature published before the CED survey was instituted. A similar map, together with a valuable 
discussion, has recently been published by Rostlund (1948). 

6 For location of groups on my maps 3 and 4 and for the groups listed immediately hereafter, see Kroeber’s 
(1939) key and master list. SS (Area I, Pomo), angelica, Angelica sp.; SL (Area G, Sinkyone), parsnip; 
Te (Area D, Tenino), sunflower, Heliantheila (?) sp.; Mn (Area L, Mono), Mi (Area L, 8, Miwok), pepper- 
wood, Umbellaria californica; MV (Area K, Maidu), horehound, Lycopus sp.; SS, Ic, BW, NE (Area I, 
Pomo), manroot, Echinocystis fabacea (?), or E. oreganus; OB (Area M, Paiute), slim solomon, Smilacina 
sessilifolia. 

85 Merrill (1923) shows by a series of maps that the actual botanical distribution of plants used for basketry 
making in California is consistently wider than their cultural employment. (See also Heizer, 1941.) 


foagee ABORIGINAL FISH POISONS—HEIZER 251 


EXPLANATION OF SYMBOLS 


CG) B0uNDARY OF FISH POISONING 


© FISH POISONING DENIED BY 
INDIAN INFORMANTS 


@ - BLANK, NO INQUIRY 


GROUPS PRACTICING 
FISH SMOKING 


Map 3.—Distribution of fish-poisoning in western North America. 


arid and ethnographic information very scarce.® Piscicides in these 
three culture areas seem to be classifiable as a somewhat discontinuous 
unit. 


‘© The postulated northward diffusion presumably took the route of the western interior (Willamette 
Valley). 


252 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bunn 151 


ies ANATION eb ng BW 


4, TURKEY MULLEN 
* bentatbcanous SEreenusy~— 


@ 2 SOAPROOT (CHLOROGALUM 
POMERIDIANUM) 

B 2, BUCKEYE (AESCULUS 
CALIFORNICA) 


a 
R 4, WILD CARROT (LEPTOTOENIA 4 
MULTFIDA) 


COMBINATIONS OF ABOVE 


VY /¥2 
@ /t+?3 
@ 247 
@ 4243 


Map 4. _ Disiibation of fanseenn plants in western North America. 


aR 


The unique Great Basin (Nevada) practice of “fish smoking”’ is of 
much interest, since it seems to be, in view of its isolation, a local 
invention. Unfortunately, we lack details as to what type of water 
body was treated, the plant which was burned, and effects on the fish. 


MEXICO AND CENTRAL AMERICA 
There is some indication that the western part of northern Mexico 
generally practiced fish drugging. Table 9 gives the occurrences and 


plants used. There is little to discuss, since we lack full, specific 
information. Hura crepitans L. is cultivated in Mexico as a fish-poison 


woos ABORIGINAL FISH POISONS—HEIZER 253 


plant (Rose, 1899, p.25). This is the most northerly continental culti- 
vation of plants with piscicidal properties in the New World. 

Map 2 immediately suggests a problem—are the Mexican and 
Californian occurrences historically related? There is a definite gap 
among the Colorado desert Yuman-speaking peoples.” The Cocopa 
employment of willow leaves, which, if used in quantity, produce 
astringent tannin, may actually be an independent invention. A 
social factor which may have retarded the spread of the idea of fish 
drugging is the Southwestern prohibition against eating fish.” This 
taboo is recorded for the Yavapai, Walapai, Havasupai, Hopi, 
Navaho, Zuni, Western Apache, Mescalero, and Jicarilla Apache 
(Spier, 1928, p. 123), Wichita (Beals, 1932, p. 167), and Papago (Beals, 
1934, p. 13). It is recorded for at least one Great Basin Shoshoni 
group (Steward, 1943). Here is a great block of people who do not 
even catch or eat any fish. If the California-Mexican practice of 
narcotizing fish with poison plants is historically connected, then it 
either skirted to the west of this noneating area, or it was transferred 
before the taboo was in operation. The probable route of spread 
would, in this southwestern area, be mainly along the coast, rather 
than through the arid interior which has few streams suitable for 
poisoning. 

SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES 


Fish drugging has a rather restricted distribution in the Southeast.” 
It occurs east of the Mississippi among the following ethnic groups: 
Yuchi, Creek, Catawba, Cherokee, Choctaw, Delaware, and Iroquois 
(?)." There is a tradition of the former presence of fish poisoning 
among the Pamunkey, Chickahominy, and Mattaponi.” 

The use of Aesculus nuts as a fish stupefacient suggests a parallel 
with their relatively common use in parts of California. 

Fish poisoning seems to have been unknown between the Inter- 
montane Plateau (Great Basin) and the Mississippi River. The origin 
of Southeastern piscicides apparently does not lie in the interior of 
North America—the western Gulf coast literature has failed to yield 
any mention of fish drugging, and at least one Southern Caddo group 
(Wichita) claim the taboo against eating fish. The Mexican-South- 


6? The Cocopa (Yuman-speaking) are an exception (Gifford, 1933, p. 268). 

68 For further discussion, see page 258 of this paper. 

6 In certain parts of the Old World the prohibition against polluting the water may have worked against 
the adoption of the use of fish poisoning. Fora similar type of culture process, see Tschopik (1938). Mat- 
thews (1898) has made an interesting study of ‘‘ichthyophobia.”” The fish-eating taboo is practiced in parts 
of North Africa (Bates, O., 1917, pp. 210-211). 

7 Swanton, 1928, p. 694; Gower, 1927, pp. 26-27; Adair, 1930, p. 482; Flannery, 1939, p. 19. 

71 Handbook of American Indians vol. 1, p. 462, says the Iroquois practiced fish poisoning. Flannery 
(1939, p. 183), says it is absent among Huron-Iroquois groups. 

72 Flannery, 1939, p. 19; Speck, 1924, p. 191; 1928, pp. 364-65. 


254 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLL. 151 


eastern gap may be a true area of absence, a region which never knew 
the use of piscicides. If so, we must look either for an independent 
origin in the Southeast, or to South America via the Antillean route. 


ANTILLES 


The Greater and Lesser Antillean Islands are only now becoming 
known from the anthropological standpoint. Loven (1935) has 
published the fullest single study of the area, and has paid particular 
attention to possible cultural affiliations with North and South 
America. Loven states that the Island-Caribs got poison from 
conami, a cultivated herb, and adduces from linguistic evidence that 
this herb came from the southern mainland and that the Antilles 
were, ‘‘in the matter of fish-poisoning, . . . only a cultural offshoot 
of South America (Loven, 1935, pp. 423-424). P. Browne” says, 
“The ‘Surinam poison’ (Tephrosia toaicaria Sw. Pers.) has been intro- 
duced to Jamaica from the main, and is now cultivated in many parts 
of the island .. .”” Table 8 lists the occurrences of piscicides in the 
Antillean islands. In view of the certainty of the successive Arawak 
and Carib migrations into the Antilles from northeastern South 
America, there is every reason to believe that Loven’s conclusion is 
correct. Since the Southeastern United States area of piscicides does 
not connect via the Gulf coast with Mexico,” it seems likely that it 
may be historically related to the Antillean (and ultimately South 
American) area of fish drugging. 


SOUTH AMERICA 


IT might say at the outset that there is so much information on 
South American piscicides that it has proved beyond the scope of 
this paper to attempt an exhaustive synthesis. Radlkofer, Greshoff, 
and Ernst all have long lists of piscicides used in this area. The 
early explorers (particularly such men as Spix, Martius, and Schom- 
burgk) paid particular attention to this aspect of economic utiliza- 
_ tion of plants. Nordenskiéld ” has gone through part of the his- 
torical sources and has presented a map. Métraux (1928, map) subse- 
quently enlarged on the work of Nordenskiéld. The best sources 
on this subject, and as yet nearly untouched by anthropologists, are 
in the botanical papers on South America.”® These sources are listed 
and used by Ernst, Greshoff, Radlkofer, Roark, and Killip and 
Smith. 

73 Quoted by Greshoff II, p. 47. 

™ This statement is made with some reservation, since literary source material for the Gulf coast groups 
(Coahuilteco, Tonkawa, Karankawa, Atakapa, etc.) are few. Those which I have consulted make no 
mention of fish drugging. 

75 1920, pp. 40-43, map 6 (p. 45). I believe that fish poisons would be‘amenable to_linguistic treatment of 


the type done by Nordenskidld. 
1 See Killip and Smith,{1935; Roark, 1936, 1938. 


eae Pap, ABORIGINAL FISH POISONS—HEIZER 255 


The use of piscicides seems to be an old culture element in South 
America. Numerous plants are cultivated, the custom is very 
widespread, and the number of recorded fish poisons is probably 
greater than that of any other continent. (See table 10.) I quote 
from Howes, who says: 

An interesting feature about some of these South American species is that they 
have not yet been recorded away from the precincts of man, and are known only 
from aboriginal cultivations, it being common practice among certain tribes to 
cultivate a few plants round their habitations to supply their wants in fishing. 
Altson, who has made a special study of these plants in British Guiana, lays 
emphasis on this fact, and points out that some species never seem to flower. 
Over a period of some years spent in British Guiana this observer was unable to 
find certain of these plants in flower or in fruit in spite of a continual lookout 
being kept and specimens frequently being seen. The following plants are 
stated to be known only from native habitations in British Guiana: Clibadium 
sylvestre (Aubl.) Baill., Tephrosia toxicaria (Sw.) Pers., Euphorbia cotinoides Miq., 
Phyllanthus sp. <A distribution of this sort courts the assumption that these 
plants have been under cultivation throughout a considerable period. If this is 
so, one would expect a wide degree of variation to exist within each species, 
variation extending also possibly to the degree of toxicity. [Howes, 1930, p. 135.] 

That certain plants depended for their existence in some places 
upon native cultivation is also demonstrated by Chevalier (1925, 
pp. 1520-1523), who showed that Tephrosia toxicaria Pers. must 
have been more widespread in pre-Contact times. At the time of 
Plumier’s voyage (1689-97) this plant was common in the Antilles, 
but subsequently became more and more rare and almost disappeared 
with the extinction of the Caribs. The implication is that without 
planting and tending by the natives the plant did not propagate itself.” 

The distribution of fish poisoning for South America shown on 
map 2 is more or less generalized, but it is necessarily so. For a spot- 
map of South America, those of Nordenskiéld and Métraux will do 
very well. 

It is unnecessary to emphasize that map 2 exhibits a continuous 
distribution from South America through Central America to northern 
Mexico, and from South America through the Antilles to the south- 
eastern United States. It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that we 
are dealing with a single, widely distributed concept which has a 
South American focus of origin, dispersal center, and highest, or most 
complex, development.” 

1 This is the case with the banana which is planted, not from seeds, but from “‘slips”’ or “‘sets.’”? This 
is a specialization of long cultivation, the plant being unable to propagate itself naturally and without human 
interference. It is, in biological terms, a symbiotic relationship brought about through cultivation by 
man over a long period of time. A situation of this sort implies some antiquity for the use of piscicides. 
(Cf. Howes, 1930, p. 135; Cook, 1925.) 

78 Métraux (1928, p. 93) says, ‘‘Fishing with the aid of poison is not practiced by the Tupi-Guaranf of the 
Upper Xingu, which seems to indicate that this procedure has been discovered at a recent date, probably in 
the Amazon basin.’’ This conclusion seems questionable, since cultivation of piscicidal plants and the 
wide distribution of the practice indicate fish poisoning is an old South American cultura] feature. A more 


likely explanation is either that these Tupi-Guarani did not choose to practice fish stupefying, or that certain 
environmental features militated against the practice. 


256 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Buun. 151 


SUMMARY 
THE OLD WORLD 


In the particular sections of analyses of distribution it is intimated 
that the Euro-Asian occurrence of fish drugging, notwithstanding the 
apparent Turko-Iranian discontinuity, is probably a historical unit. 
Australian fish poisoning may have been diffused first to Queensland 
from Melanesia. Oceanian fish stupefying was probably borrowed 
from an ultimate continental Asiatic source through the intermediate 
Indonesian route. Africa seems either to have developed piscicides 
independently, or to have shared, at an earlier time, the concept with 
the north (Europe), or to have borrowed it from the east. External 
influence has profoundly affected much of African culture, and fish 
drugging may possibly be a custom originally learned from peoples 
outside that continent, subsequently became enlarged and elaborated, 
and later was diffused widely within the continent. 

It remains now to attempt to explain the large areas in the Old 
World in which fish drugging is lacking. If it is admitted that fish 
drugging in the Old World had a unitary origin and subsequent diffu- 
sion which is approximated on map 2, then the reason for absence is 
simply that the concept did not spread there. But there are factors 
(environmental, cultural, or both) which condition diffusion and it is 
possible to give reasons to account for certain blank spots on the dis- 
tribution map. 

In a recent paper, Findeisen, ” states that there is no record of fish 
poisoning among the Siberian tribes. This categorical dismissal of 
the presence or absence is open to question, for there are certain refer- 
ences, however inexact, to piscicides in Siberia. Radlkofer (1887, 
p. 409) notes that in Siberia Rhododendron dauricum L. is used as a 
piscicide. Northern Asia is mentioned as the location of the piscicidal 
use of Daphne mezereum L., but since Europe is also mentioned, this 
Asiatic occurrence may be in northwestern Russia (Radlkofer, 1887, 
- p. 412). Verbascum phlomoides L. and V. thapsiforme are noted as 
piscicides ‘‘in verschiedenen Teilen des Russischen Reiches” and ‘‘in 
het gouvernement Moskou” (Greshoff III, p. 144). The implication 
here is that extreme western Russia is meant—the possibility of 
European influence is a logical explanation for the presence of fish 
poisoning here. A likely factor militating against the use of piscicides 
in the far north is proposed by von Middendorf, who says: 

Hin grosser Vorzung den der Norden besitzt, is der, dass keine Giftpflanzen zu 


ihm hinanreichen. Mij£r is uur ein einziges Beispiel einer fir giftig erkannten hoch 
Nordischen Pflanze bekannt, indem Hed. Mackenzii (Hedysarum mackenzii 


1 Findeisen, 1929, p.1&. The area and tribes considered by this author will be found on p. 4, 


Aa aay si ABORIGINAL FISH POISONS—HEIZER 257 


Richards.) brechenerregend erklart wird und in einem Fall fast tédtliche Zulfalle 
hervorrief. [Von Middendorf, 1867, vol. 4, p. 697.] 

This is a statement of real significance, for it offers a possible 
explanation for the absence of fish poisoning in Asia north of 40° 
latitude.” Without proper plants with which to stupefy fish, people 
could neither invent fish poisoning, nor accept the concept if they 
had the opportunity to learn of it from others who practiced the use 
of piscicides. It will occur to the reader that fishing in general is of 
tremendous importance to the northern peoples in Asia.*! But a 
whole series of mechanical techniques are here applied to securing 
fish—weirs, nets, hook-and-line, harpoons, and spears. These are 
methods which take the place of fishing with poison. 

There is no reason to believe that the fish-drugging technique has 
ever been present in the blank area of northeastern Asia shown on 
map 2. Thus, the question of Old World introduction into North 
America cannot be raised. Where the place of origin of the practice 
of fish poisoning in the Old World was, or when the origination took 
place there is no way of telling. 


THE NEW WORLD 


The main point which I have attempted to bring out in the analysis 
of the distribution of fish drugging in the New World is that, with 
minor and generally explainable exceptions, the distribution is con- 
tinuous. 

Since the area within which this practice is carried on in the New 
World is a large, single, and connected one, I see no reason to doubt 
a unitary origin and a dispersal from some focus. When this dif- — 
fusion took place there is no way of telling. It is clear, however, 
that the wide geographical extension and the numerous local specializa- 
tions of the use of piscicides indicate a cultural element of some 
antiquity. The fons et origo of New World piscicides could hardly 
have been in the Old World—the gap is too broad between the recent 
-Asiatic and American occurrences. Everything points to tropical 
South America with its many well-stocked fishing streams and super- 
abundance of wild plants with piscicidal potentialities as the fountain- 
head. The general area in South America in which I believe the use 
of piscicides may have originated is indicated on map 2. 

Assuming a northern South American origin, we can visualize the 
use of fish poisons slowly spreading to the south and north. Southern 
South America (at about 37° S. latitude) seems to be the southern 


80 For further data on seasonal, locational, and climatic conditions affecting the toxicity of plants, see 
Pammel (1911, pp. 83-85), Howes (1933), Cornevin (1887, p. 214). 

81 For a good discussion of this, see Birket-Smith (1929), Findeisen (1929). 

82 Beals (1932, p. 104), on the basis of few cited data, proposes fish stupefying as an ‘‘old American sub=- 
stratum trait,’’ 


258 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLn. 151 


limit, with the exception of the Chilean occurrence which probably 
spread down the coast. Piscicides probably traveled northward 
through the Lesser Antilles, the Greater Antilles, and into the south- 
eastern United States, but did not diffuse east of the Mississippi 
River or north of the Ohio except along the coastal strip occupied 
by the southeastern Algonkians. Fish drugging may or may not 
have reached the Iroquois of New York State. 

A northwestward diffusion from South America introduced the 
practice of fish drugging in Middle America. The intensive agri- 
culturists seemed to have had little regard for its use, and it again 
becomes an important subsistence method north of the Valley of 
Mexico in the western slopes of the highland and the west coast. 
The impulse was barely recorded in Baja California. ‘The important 
question of the possible southern derivation of Californian fish poison- 
ing is hard to decide. Between the Colorado River and southern 
California coast is a desert area in which, in all probability, fish 
poisoning has never been practiced. But aboriginal cultural contacts 
and diffusion across the southern California desert are known, and 
it seems not unlikely that through such contacts the knowledge and 
use of fish-poison plants may have been spread. Perhaps the intro- 
duction was via the coast northward from Baja California to littoral 
southern California and from thence to the Interior Valley and into 
the Great Basin. Whatever the actual case, I am reluctant to 
point out California as a truly isolated area of autochthonous origin 
and development of piscicides, particularly since the discontinuity of 
distribution is actually quite small. After all, fish drugging appar- 
ently was distributed through the arid Great Basin area and sporadi- 
cally through the more or less uncongenial region of central Oregon 
as far north as the Columbia River. 

Fish poisoning seems to have a sharply defined northern limit in 
North America—I can find no evidence of piscicides on the northwest 
coast,** Mackenzie Basin,® or Alaskan areas. This seems to be an 
~ area which does not, and presumably never did, use piscicides. 

In this light, fish poisoning clearly seems to have originated within 
the New World independently of any other developments in the rest 
of the World.® 


8 There is, however, no record of Cochimi, Kiliwa, or Akwa’ ala fish drugging in whose territories there 
are no suitable watercourses. 

8 The University of California Culture Element Distribution Studies attest solid negatives for fish 
poisons in the northwest coast area. 

83 The late Dr. J. M. Cooper told me that none of the northern Algonkians know fish poisoning. 

8 Vellard (1941, pp. 94, 106) says of South America fish poisoning, ‘‘C’est un nouveau point de contact a 
signaler entre les regions indo-malaises at americaines.”” There seems to me no warrant for proposing a 
transoceanic diffusion of fish drugging to the New World. ‘Trans-Pacific diffusionists may find a basis for 
argument in the South American name of Lobelia tupa L. of “tupa’”’ in Peru and Chile, which is close to the 
general Malaysian word of “tuba,” referring to fish-poison plants (Greshoff I, p. 94). A single instance of 
this sort can, however, be only of limited significance, 


Se ABORIGINAL FISH POISONS—HEIZER 259 


NOTES ON THE TABLES 


In the following tables will be found listed, according to geographi- 
cal area, plants used as piscicides. These lists are not complete, and 
give only a sampling of the plants used and places where piscicides 
are employed. Although drawn largely from the lists given by 
Ernst, Radlkofer, Greshoff, and Howes, my lists contain supple- 
mentary material which has been culled from ethnographic accounts. 

Each entry is accompanied by a bibliographic citation, often to 
a secondary source which in turn will give reference to the original 
or primary source. 

In a general study of this sort, mention should be made of the 
sources from which the working data have been drawn. No anthro- 
pologist seems to have ever attempted the truly formidable task 
of collecting all data on piscicides from primary source materials. 
Such sources are extremely varied—botanists’ reports, plant lists, 
explorers’ journals, and ethnographic accounts. There are, however, a 
number of treatments by botanists of fish-poison plants. Ernst 
(1881), Radlkofer (1887), Greshoff (I, 1893; II, 1900; III, 1913), 
Hamlyn-Harris and Smith (1916), and Howes (1930) have been 
the main contributors in this respect. These papers all have the 
status of secondary sources, since they are syntheses or abstracts 
of primary references. My justification for placing chief reliance 
on these secondary sources is that the original papers are in large 
part difficult or impossible to consult: references are often in the 
form of verbatim quotations, and are always accompanied by source 
citation. Such secondary authorities are of a very high grade. 

For the convenience of those who have the occasion to consult 
the main sources utilized for this study, there is presented on pages 
232 and 233 the references in these works to(1) botanical lists, (2) source 
lists of genera containing certain plant toxins, (3) the bibliographies 
in the works of these authors dealing with fish-poison plants, and 
(4) folk names of fish- poison plants. 


TaBLE 1.—Distribution of fish-poison plants in southern Asia and Indonesia! 


Area Plant Part used References 
Armenia®=_ 2. -=-=--- Rhododendron caucasicum Pall_____|_-_.-------------- Greshoff I: 95-96. 
Parsig 224 ee 8 ee PAM MTB COAG De eee Se soi on ew ee Greshoff II: 120. 

Anamirta paniculata Colebr-_____-_- Berries: --. 22 = Greshoff IT: 13. 
sArabials= = 202 eee 2 op eparosiatOmentOsa@ebers. 222 se so |e sae eee Radlkofer, 1887: 405. 
Balanites rorburghii Planch_______- Bark. 2223) ee Greshoff I: 29. 
Anamirta paniculata Colebr-______- Berries. ~ 2s Greshoff IT: 13-15. 
Tnaqus se =e. Sees ANGMITLG DANnICUOLE COLD 2) ae eee Greshort II: 14. 
SiGmen: so. Fae = 2 Anamirta paniculata Colebr______- ribo oe ee Do. 
Palestine == 22-2 - - Anamirta paniculata Colebr_______|___-- (6 (oye ees ee eo O. Mason, 1895: 299. 
Cyclamen latifolium Sibth. and Sm_| Root_______-___- Hornell, 1941: 126-127. 
Styraz officinalis L__._-...--------- needs a a Do. 
Verbascum sinuatum L___._-__---- planta Do. 
North India: _<--....- Zanthorylum alatum Roxb___-_-_-- cae iiss se Greshoff II: 29-30. 


1 For full data on Malaysia, see Hickey, 1950, and Rumphius, 1750-1755. 
2 Introduced from the West Indies, 


260 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL 151 


TABLE 1.—Distribution of fish-poison plants in southern Asia and 
Indonesia—Continued 


Area Plant Part used References 
ast Indiazrm. = P-! Hyenocartus laurifolia (Dennst.) | Fruit.--___.____ Radlkofer, 1887: 402. 
eumer. 
Derris wliginosa (Roxb.) Benth____| Roots._..._____- Radlkofer, 1887: 407. 
UNACOLUUTAO COU GCU Uae ee ee | eee Radlkofer, 1887: 411. 
Central India________- Terminalia bellerica Roxb----__.-_- Barks 42 Fo of Greshoff II: 75. 
Strychnos nux-vomica L_____------- Seedsea-a serene Greshoff I: 106. 
West dindiar:.. 224224 Lia IS TOMEI IDO Foe Se Barks Senos Radlkofer, 1887: 401. 


Do. 
Radlkofer, 1887: 402; Raiz- 
ada and Varma, 1937: 206 
Radlkofer, 1887: 412. 
Khan, 1930: 193. 
Raleda and Varma, 1937: 


Raizada and Varma, 1937: 
205. 


Balanites rorburghii Planch-__-____|___-- Cite aes Do. 
Sapindus trifoliatus L_--__--_----- Fruit, root--___- Retads and Varma, 1937: 
Acacia pennata Willd__-._________- Fruit, stem _--_- Do. 
Albizzia procera Benth_-----_-___- Barku cts celts Do. 
Coesalpina nuga Ait__.._.-_-_-___- Fruit, stem _--__ eee and Varma, 1937: 
Dalbergia stipulacea Roxb-----___- Bark, root. -=_-- Do. 
Derris elliptica Benth-----------_- Roose eee Do. 
Entada scandens Benth___________- Deed 9. se osaeen Do. 
Millettia pachycarpa Benth_______.. Root = aa Helzads and Varma, 1937: 
08. 
Mimosa himalayana Gamble -_-___- Bark Spcree. be Do 


Ougeinia dalbergioides Benth_______|.___- dae ee Do. 
Pithecolobium bigeminium Benth__| Leaves, bark, Do. 


seed. 
Pongamia glabra Vent______---_-_- Seed, root_.___-- Haleda and Varma, 1937: 
Tephrosia candida DO____________- Roots, leaves___- Do. 
Caesaria graveolens Dalz__________- Bruit 5. ee eee and Varma, 1937: 
10. 
Artemesia vulgaris L Leaves, bark__-_- Do. 


Eupatorium odoratum L.2__--____- 
Rhododendron falconeri Hook. f___- 
Anagallis arvensisyitt n-cen ee | ee le 


Cyclamen persicum Miller_____-__- Root 
Maesia indica Wall___._-..---____- 
Bassia latifolia Roxb 2______-______ 
Diospyros montana Roxb-_-__-_----- 


OF 0 8 rps ee ae real Do. 


Melodinus monogynus Roxb_-_-____- Bark: :tuestetl ets Ralzads and Varma, 1937: 
Nerium odorum Solander--_-_-____- Bark, root----_- Do. 
Asclepias curassavica L.2__________- lange see Do. 
Verbascum thapsus L____-__--__-__- Seeds: x-22 25224 Do. 
Dolichandrone falcata Seem-_-_______ Bark. 258 22a n Do. 
Eremostachys vicaryi Benth_______- Blant 222 3s Helzads and Varma, 1937: 
Lasiosiphon ericephalus Dene__-_-__- ea yes: bark, Do. 
root. 
Linostoma decandrum Wall_-_------ Fruit, stem... Do. 
Crotonitigittmilse 3-2 ea Bruit. ste Do. 
Euphorbia tirucalli L_...--_--__--- Juice eee Do. 
Flueggia leucopyrus Willd___--__-- Bark, leaves---_- maiads and Varma, 1937: 
Sapium indicum Willd____-.--_--- Sesdsue.-2 2. - 4 Do. 
Antiaris toricaria Lesch_....------- Juices-22s22-25 Do. 
Caniabisrsativa planes eee Stem, leaves, Do. 
flowers. 
UL LON seg ans ae nner eee Unr ips fruit Halzads and Varma, 1937: 
rind. : 
Myrica nagi Thunb- -___ Bark asus Do. 
QGnetum scandens Roxb_ ECR VES saa ee Do. 
Taxugnoaccnlaniess= = pee ene Leaves, branches. Do. 
Corypha umbraculifera L___-_____- Tit eee eee Do. 
Anamirta paniculata Colebr_--____- Bernese ee Greshoff ITI:13. 
Randia dumetorum Lam_______.__- rite eee Howes, 1930:141; Raizada 


: and Varma, 1937: 210. 
Fruit, leaves, | Raizada and Varma, 1937: 


: 204. 
Fruit, bark, | Raizada and Varma, 1937: 
root. 209. 


Gynocardia odorata R. Br_-_----- tee 


Barringtonia acutangula (L.) 
Gaertn. 


ANTHROP, PAP, 
No. ] 


ABORIGINAL FISH POISONS—HEIZER 261 


TABLE 1.—Distribution of fish-poison plants in southern Asia and 


Indonesia—Continued 


Area Plant Part used 
Indias. 23. Feet ea Cleistanthus collinus (Roxb.) | Bark__._.-_----- 
Benth. and Hook. 

Fluggea leucopyrus Willd____-_..--_]----- do 
Zanthorylon alatum Roxb-. 
Casearia tomentosa Roxb-__----_---- eeds 

South and West India_| Mundulea suberosa (DC.) Benth__-_ Bane seeds__-._- 

Ceylon 209. 4-332 2 Hydnocarpus venenata Gaertn ____-_}------------------ 
Pachygone ovata Willers... 25 seb see ee 
Dioscorea bulbifera L_-_-_..-------- ROOGES > wake sete 
Derris scandens Benth_____-_-__--- Plantesas. 2258! 
Derris benthamii Thwaites_____---- ER OOUSASS ss4 oe St 

Travancore _-___.------ Diospyros montana Roxb_-_-.------ BiG) 22.439. =) 

Hindustanles-22! =. Crinum asiaticum L_____---------- Leaves, roots___- 

Biking: = P3222 8t 51000 Gynocardia odorata (Roxb.) R. Br__| Fruit____________ 
Bassia butyracea Roxb___._._---_-- Arlo’ Whee se 

INGDAL 2s ine 2 2 eet Zanthorylum alatum Roxb-_-------- Hopd gee less o242 

7 ACCOM Ba a ee Myrica nagi Thunb_.____________- Bare srphe ie a} 
Millettia piscidia (Roxb.) Wight | Bark, flowers___- 

and Arn. 

Burma.-22-..25-2ae3 fe pecans castanea Hook f. and | Fruit__-_.__-___- 
Tephrosia candida DC_____._____-- eaVvesi. 2222.2" 
Acacia pruinescens Kurz___-______- Bark eet eS 
Spilanthes paniculata D Cx... eee |e nae eee 
Derris ellipitica (Roxb.) Benth_____ RO0tse eee 
Tephrosia candida DO____________- IGAVES ees ee 
Anamirta paniculata Colebr__-_-_-__- Berriese 2) mes 


puidnccarptis castanea Hook f. and | Fruit___._.-._-_- 
paehnocarDis castanea Hook f. and 


Hagerstiroemiaisp ==> 2.2 =+===--=5 2" 

Barringtonia asiatica (L.) Kurz____-|-----do__--_-_---- 

Diospyros toposioides King and | Fruit__-__-____-_- 
Gamble. 


Derris elliptica (Roxb.) Benth___-_- OOS ta a) Sa Pits 
Java: 2. eet soe Millettia dasyphylla (Miq.) Boerl__}.---- sau it Rea 
Pittosporwm javanicum Bl_______-- Brot) 22 S98 
HAydnocarpus heterophylla Bl_______|------------------ 
Millettia sericea Wight and Arn___| Stalk, leaves___- 
Derris uliginosa (Roxb.) Benth____| Root_-_--------- 
GCoceulusindtcus 2-24 8 A ad Bet Sere 
Albizzia stipulata Boiv_-__--------- Barks twee eee 
Bumatras. 2223522. 822 Millettia sericea Wight and Arn___| Roots____-______- 
Polygonum erythrodes Miq---_----- Sapeaeitit Wike 
Symplocos racemosa Roxb----_----- parks + ese 


IETS Seer eee ae 
Barringtonia racemosa (L.) Bl_- 


Timor;yAlore-....-25 
Derris elliptica (Roxb.) Benth 


References 


Howes, 1930:141; Hooper, 


Greshoff III:87. 

Khan, 1930:193; Raizada 
and Varma; 1937:205. 

Khan, 1930:193. 

Howes, 1930:133; Greshoff 
1:56-57. 

Greshoff II:21; 1:19-20 

Radlkofer, 1887:402. 

Greshoff III:28. 

Greshoff ITI:74. 

Stockdale, 1928: 78-79. 


Greshoff 1:19; 11:21. 
Greshoff I1:101. 
Greshoff I:28. 
Greshoff I1:146. 
Greshoff, 1:54. 


Greshoff II:21-22. 


Greshoff 11:48; 
1930:140. 

Greshoff II:69; F. Mason, 
1883: vol. 2, p. 543. 

F. Mason, 1883: vol. 2, 
p. 380. 

Skeat and Blagden, 1906: 
vole, 1, pp. 211, 218; Harris. 


Greshoff I1:48. 
Greshoff II:13. 
Greshoff II:21-22. 


Greshoff IT:21-22. 


Man, 1883:366. 
Kloss, 1903:246. 
Howes, 1930:141. 


Evans, 1937:219; Martin, 
1905:792; G. Maxwell, 1907: 
246-64; Ishikawa, 1916; 
Wray, 1892. ‘ 

Greshoff IIT:69. 

Greshoff IT:22. 

Radlkofer, 1887:402. 

Radlkofer, 1887:406. 

Radlkofer, 1887:407. 

Raffles, 1830:208-209. 

Radlkofer, 1887:408. 

Greshoff II:49-51. 

Greshoff ITI:35. 

Greshoff ITI:129. 

Marsden, 1811:186. 

Greshoff I1:176. 

Greshoff 11:174-75. 


Howes, 


@elebes= 2-228 ti Callicarpa longifolia Lam________-_- . Greshoff I1:180-81. 
Barringtonia asiatica (L.) Kurz____} Fruit__--____-_-- Greshoff I1:176. 
Millettia sericea Wight and Arn__-| Roots_---_-_-__- QGreshoft I1:173. 
Anamirta paniculata Colebr--__-_-- Bruitess Seer Greshoff I1:169. 
CT OLOT AGI ae ne oo ee ee doe ase Howes, 1930:141. 
nBY0i gi 0( 0) eee Me Fi A atl} oh I SU 9 Pe L Rootes Hose a McDougall, 1912: 
Derris elliptica (Roxb.) Benth_____|_---- doe seas H. L. Roth, 1896:458-460; 
Furness, 1902:185-89; 
Mioberg, 1930:100-102; 
Nieuwenhuis, 1904:192- 
196. 
Moluccas... betes Enyphorti a enity Oi Waa ee ee eee es ee Radlkofer, 1887:413. 
Abrus pulchellus Wall___..-.-.----|-.---------------- Radlkofer, 1887:406. 
Aegiceras minus Gaertn__-____--__- Barksnaw tg 29) Radlkofer, 1887:409. 
Coram 2 22525 2 Phyllanthus distichus Muell___-___- OOS ane Se See Greshoff IT:182. 
Philippines. 2... 20 Croton tigltum: Ti 222. 1 00h ee Howes, 1930:141. 
DHOSPYTOS She ae eet eee ee | dose. 222802 Do. 
Harpullia arborea (Blanco) Radlk_|-___-_------------ Radlkofer, 1887:405. 
Diospyros ebenaster Retz__-.__.-_-- 10h 7h Re a eos ee Radlkofer, 1887:410. 


Maesa dentictinta Mezeet 1 2a ee eee 


Greshoff IIT:125. 


262 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bun. 151 


TABLE 1.—Distribution of fish-poison plants in southern Asia and 
Indonesia—Continued 


Area Plant Part used References 
Philippines__________- Entada phaseoloides (L). Merr_-___- Greshoff III:62. 
Derris elliptica (Roxb.) Benth____- W. H. Brown, 1921:79. 
Derris philippinensis Merr__.-.-.-_|---_- d Do. 
Derrisitrifoliata Woure 2 | eee Kalaw and Sacay, 1925. 
Galactidsp==2 2 Se Blair and Robertson, 1903- 


09: vol. 43, p. 273. 
Do. 
Blair and Robertson, 1903- 
09, vol. 48, p. 122. 
Greed III:61. 


0. 
Greshoff IT:16. 


Anamirta cocculus Wight and Arn_ 
Euphorbia pilulifera L___.._--____- 


Albizzia saponaria (Lour.) Bl____- 
Albizzia\acle\ (Blanco) Merr. 222) eee 
Pachygone ovata Miers_-._____-__-- 


Dersis polyanthaieerks---. 25-2 | See ee ee Greshoff IIT:74. 
iDerrisielli price OROxb:) LB enth soe eee ee eee Greshoff III:78. 
Ganophyllum falcatum Bl____.--_- Barks Greshoff IIT:83. 
Barringtonia balabacensis Merr_._-|------------------ Greshoff ITI:117. 
Daturamctellss sae ee ee Plantuss icine ee Greshoff III:139-140. 
Gliricidia sepium (Jacq.) Steud-_-__|__--_---_----____- Greshoff I:67, 70; II, 51. 
Sineapore--2-- ‘Derrisieliplica (Roxb) Bent he. -= soe ee see ee Radlkofer, 1887:407. 
Cochin China________- Crinum asiaticum L_._-.--.------- Leaves, roots_._.| Greshoff IT:151. 
Coromandel_-_-_-______- Grewialasiaticas:. -.. 3.2 eo | ee eee Radlkofer, 1887:402. 
Keitslandso 2225) 22 Millettia sericea Wight and Arn___| Plant__________- Greshoff 1:57. 


TABLE 2.—Distribution of fish-poison plants in Oceania ! 


Area Plant Part used Reference 
Marianas Islands______| Rarringtonia asiatica (L.) Kurz____| Juice___________- Howes, 1930: 143. 
Caroline Islands_____- Derris elliptica (Roxb, Benth-_2"|2222)) eS Greshoff IT: 62. 

ING webritain ess sa Barringtonia asiatica (u.) Kurz._-.|_.-_-----.---_-.-- Howes, 1930: 143-144. 
Mentawai Islands____| Derris elliptica (Roxb.) Benth_____|__.-_-___-_______- Pleyte, 1901: 7. 
Bismarck Archipel- | Barringtonia asiatica (L.) Kurz____|_-...-._---_-_-_--- Howes, 1930: 143-144. 
ago. 
Torres Straits (Ma- | Derris uliginosa Benth_______.____- ROOts: sees Hamlyn-Harris and Smith, 
buiag). Tephrosia purpurea Pers_-_-------- Plante Sse 1916: 11. 
New Caledonia__-____ Grobusmiscitiais pr (it) =e eee Oe eee Radlkofer, 1887: 406. 
Calophyllum montanum Vieill_____|.-----.--_------_- Greshoff II: 24. 
Solomon Islands-_---__- IB OrranoLOniliS Dee a eee Kloss, 1903: 246. 
New Guinea_-_-_______ Harpullia thanatophora Bl\________- Radlkofer, 1887: 404. 
Derris elliptica (Roxb.) Benth__-__- Van der Sande, 1907: 170. 
Samoa--.- 2225418 Barringtonia asiatica (L.) Kurz___- Bue 0 aes Setchell, 
Phyllanthus simples Retze-2-2- 2-2 | ae ae a Greshoff IIT: 88. 
INomoeaSp..(2) 22S el Churchill, n. d.: 122. 
Tephrosia purpurea (L.) Pers__-__- Root, plant____-_ Buck, 1930: 443-444. 
Society Islands______- Lepidium bidentatum Montin______|-...--.....--_-_-_- Greshoff IT: 18. 
Tephrosia purpurea (L.) Pers_____- Plantes ees Ellis, 1853: 140. 
Wikstroemia foetida (L. f.) A. Gray_|_--..-.-----_-___- Stokes, 1921: 231. 
New Zealand_-_______- Lepidium oleraceum Forst. (?)_-._-|------------------ Radlkofer, 1887: 402. 
Hawail.2 = Ae oe eos Piper methysticwm Forst---_------- Plant 22802 52 Greshoff IT: 132. 
Cocculus ferrandianus Gaud--_----- Seedss=< = Greshoff II: 16. 
Bryan, 1915: 341-342. 
Tephrosia purpurea (L.) Pers__-_-- Plant =2=—---- Stokes, 1921: 226. 
Wiksiroemiaispp 22-2 =) ee ee dos=ss2- 4 Do. 
Lagenaria siceraria (Mol.) Standl__| Fruit___-.______- Do. 
Golubrinalasiatica Brongn: —— 22) aaa eee eee Rock, 1913: 283. 
Viti Islands (Fiji)__.__ Derris trifoliata Lour_-_-_-.---_-_--- Stem, leaves____| Greshoff I: 71: II: 61; 
Hornell, 1941: 127. 
Barringtonia asiatica (U.) Kurz____|_---------_-_-_-_- Greshoff I:— 712) Mls 162; 
Seemann, 1862:339. 
Marquesas Islands___| Derris malaccensis Prain__________- Root (()s--= Hornell, 1941: 127-128. 
Tephrosia Purpurea (lu) PCTS22e. 2s) eee Do. 
Pitlosporiimisp=2). =. —_ =) 22 eb eee eee Do. 
Derris trifoliata Lour __------------ Stem, leaves____| Seemann, 1862: 339. 
Rarringtonia asiatica (L.) Kurz____| Fruit_.....-_.__- Handy, 1923: 178. 
Rarotonga. -.---._-__- Rarringtonia asiatica (L.) Kurz_...| Kernel__--.----- Buck, 1928. 
Teahitie ee eee Barringtonia asiatica (L.) Kurz___.| Nuts___-_----__- Ellis, 1859: 140; H. St. John, 
information. 
Guam sea ee Rarringtonia asiatica (L.) Kurz____| Fruit_...._..___- Safford, 1917 b: 81-82. 
Loyalty Islands_______ Gerberaynanghas lyse == ee Fraiti(?) 2925 Sarasin, 1929: 83. 
Pe DnOr vig: Spies ee Sapeshssoueokt Do. 
Barringtonia asiatica (L.) Kurz____| Fruit (?)__.---_- Do. 
Desmodium: sp-62-. === 22 22-8 ee Do. 


1 For general data see Stokes, 1921; Buck, 1928; C. F. Maxwell, 1912. 


ANTHROP. PAP, 
No. 38] 


ABORIGINAL FISH POISONS—-HEIZER 263 


TABLE 3.—Distribution of fish-poison plants in Europe and northern Asta 


Area 


Southern Ireland ____-_ 
France (Bretagne) --_-- 


Siberaeese 2 Snes. snitsbe 
Russian Empire 
(Moscow). 


Plant Part used Reference 
SDI GH OES CD St lane ee | ee ee eae Radlkofer, 1887:412. 
Verbascum nigrum L_.-.---------- Secdssee <2 -4c222 Greshoff 1:110. 
Agrostemma githago L.-..----------|----- (6k eee ee Greshoff III:39. 
Phephorbia esl Waa =e | eee ne Howes, 1930:148:Radikofer, 
1887:413. 
Puphorbia platyphytia Lo. ..----=-=-|-=-====2222-=====- Radlkofer, 1887:413. 
TAGS ORCCOLG Vanes 5 | ee Radlkofer, 1887:415. 
Cyclamen euronaéewne Vs: - 2.2 22 2 | Soe Se Radlkofer, 1887:409. 
Cyclamen oraccum Links =< 3222—| 22 ieee ee Do. 
Werbascumthipsueuis=s— <25- == = =e eee ee Radlkofer, 1887:411. 
Verbascum phlomoides L-_---------- Plantae o.4- = 
Anamirta cocculus Wight and Arn-}_-_--- goss. 2 ane 1904:131. 
Euphorbia hiberna L_-_------------ Leaves Greshoff I:127. 
Euphorbia coralloides L_-----------|------------------ Greshoff I1:136. 
Euphortia hiberna L_-------------- WeaVesss neck Greshoff 1:127; Aristotle, 
1883 (1910 ed.): 602. 
Euphorbia coralloides L___---------|------------------ Greshoff IT:136. 
AEE cocculus (L.) Wight and | Berries___------- Anonymous, 1884:186. 
m 
Anamirta paniculata Colebr._----- Plantes feo Greshoff IT:14. 
Verbascum thapsoides Wiild--__---- Seeds =252+65 = Radlkofer, 1887:411. 
ACONIHUMN SDac 222252555 ~ eee Eee ee Greshoff IT:122. 
ISCRTODRULATIC: SD eee to. Se = oz |S ee a eee Do. 
Pup horbia lathy nisin. <= - 25 == (ona ee Radlkofer, 1887:413. 
Euphorbia amygdatoides Ly. ...-_---|-_----- ==. === === eee hates Radlkofer, 
7:413. 

Cicer arietinwm L.---------------- Plants. Seas Greshoff III:77. 
Menbasciune tha psusilus--- == == >. Ss) ee eas eee Howes, 1930:147. 
Cyclamen europaeum L-_.____------ Tubercles_____-- Greshoff I1:126. 
Daphne gnidtum Ta. - -...-----=---- Roots: A=-3- 5s ee aia Greshoff 
Genanthe.crocata Va= <->. = ee AO. 3-e ase Howes ss Greshoft 
Verbascum crassifolium Lam. and |_----------------- Howes, 1930:147; Greshoft 

DC. TI:119. 
Dapine sp. =: eee se See | eae eee Howes, 1930:147. 
Anamirta paniculata Colebr-------|------------------ Do. 
Oenanthe crocata L__-------------- ROOtA =o ee Howes, 1930:148. 
Daphne cneorum T2--*-=------ 2 = Leaves, fruit.__.| Radlkofer, 1887:413. 
EMOSCYAMUS Nie Us. 22 ss wee | Se Radlkofer, 1887:411. 
Euphorbia hiberna L--_--__-------- Plant 43—2-ee2 ad oer, 1887:413. 
Daplineonidivummass 22-422 - = 2 Ne eee ee 
Veratrum album 2). 2.2.52. hes EA ee ees Radikoler, 1887:415. 
(VerOasCUum Speen ee Plant seeh eee Howes, 1930:147, 
Werbascwm sinaly mils j- 22 = -- 52 |se ee ee Howes, 1930:148. 
Verbascum phlomoides L.--__------ SeedS=.c cues er ee 1:109; Howes, 
Verbascum sinuatum L-_-_-.-------|----- dose <4 Howes, 1930;146. 
Anes Gtalicay Retz) =azureq):|2 5 eee eee Greshoff IIT:135. 
Euphorbia dendroides L____-------- Bark, leaves--_- Howes, 1930:148: Greshofft 

295. 

ELDON CRONOLIAShins es Soe ae a eee ee meee Howes, 1930:148. 
Euphorbia sibthorpii Boiss. __------ Bark, leaves___.| Radlkofer, 1887:414. 
Rhododendron caucasicum Pall_____|_----------------- Greshoff I:95-96. 


Rhododendron dauricum L _.-.| Radlkofer, 1887:409. 
Werbascum phlomoides Mises 22o- S| eee eee Seas Greshoff IIT:144. 
Verbascum thapsiforme Schrad.____|___-.------------- Do. 

PRETOER ACCOR yee eae See oe eavese: nthe 22 Greshoff ITI:12. 
Daphneimezereum less a2 2. = =| Se eee ee Radlkofer, 1887:412. 


TasLE 4.—Distribution of fish-poison plants in eastern Asia 


Area 


ma For further data see Greshoff II, p. 134, footnote 1. 


909871—52 


Plant Part used Reference 

Wikstroemia chamaedaphne Meissn-|------------------ Greshoff IT:134. 
Euphorbia pulcherrima Willd_-___--|------------------ Greshoff I1:138. 
NMelinidzeaaruch Wee eee eee eee Greshoff I1:118, 138. 
Datura fastuosa L. var. alba (Nees) |------------------ Greshoff I1:118. 

C. B. Clarke. 
Canarium sp Greshoff II:31. 
Camellia a ee Greshoff 1:24. 
Buddleia curviflora Hook. and Arn_| Leaves_--------- Greshoff III:130. 
Dioscorea tokoro Makino_-__-_----- RO0tse == ee Greshoff III:28. 
Zanthorylum piperitum DC__-____- Weaves. --.=-s.-- Greshoff III:82; 1:26. 
Milletia taiwaniana Hayata---_---- OOUSS ees Kariyone et al., 1923. 


18 


264 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLy. 151 


TABLE 5.—Distribution of fish-poison plants in Africa 


Area Plant Part used Reference 
South Africa_.._...-_- Tephrosia macropoda Harv_-_---_- Rootsia.: ee" Howes, 1930: 133. 
Natal. . 2 2h: ee ee Millettiaicafira WMeissn >. 322-5222 55| ee eee Radlkofer, 1887: 406. 
puereuiers Mrans= || Adenium muttijorim Kil-22"- ae Howes, 1930: 134. 
vaal. 
Mozambique----_---_- Tephrosia ichthyoneca Bertol_..-_--|_-_..-.--____-___- Radlkofer, 1887: 406. 
Tephrosiaivogelit Hook: fes---— = | seca Radlkofer, 1887: 405. 
Zambezi River__------ Derris uliginosa (Roxb.) Benth__--| Stems_________-- Greshofi I: 71. 
Zanzibar sss ees Cn sarcostemmatoides Ka|= = se ee Greshoff III: 133. 
ch. 
Euphorbia tirucalli L_.-.---------- Sapte 2 isn Ingrams, 1931: 300; Gres- 
hoff III: 96. 
OU Nsc\-50) (; eee Tephrosia vogelit Hook f____---_--- eaves: s..2 4 fae 49; Hambly, 
: 145. 
Cameroons, French | Tefrapleura thonningii Benth_----- Seeds_.-.------- Tessmann, 1913: 111-112. 
Equatorial Africa. 
Ophiocaulon cissampeloides Mast__| Leaves, stem_-_- Do. 
Adeniailobata Engle. - 2 2222 doles2254 Do. 
Justicia extensa T. Anders___------ IMeaVes: 2 eee Do. 
Piptadenia africana Hook. f___-__-- Bark2t2ihs ee Do. 
Rinorea dentata (Beauv.) Kuntze__}____- (oi eee eee Do. 
Pachyelasma tessmanii Harms-----_}|_____-_-_---_----_- Do. 
Belgian Congo_______- Tepnrosintoriyentssse = ene Planfeie see Weeks, 1913: 242-243. 
ER DhON0Ie SD S22- =a oe =e oe ee eae 
French Congo---_-_-_-__- Tephrosia vogelii Hook. f__-__-_---- Leadves22s. 222223 Avelot and Gritty, 1913: 6. 
Tetrapleura thonningii Benth_-___- Seeds. =-2---=s2 Do. 
Nigeria. .-- 2542-5252 Ophiocaulon cissampeloides Mast_-| Stem_-_-_---_-_- Howes, 1930: 133. 
Adenium honghel A. DC___--_-___- Root a Sa Howes, 1930: 134. 
Tephrosia voger Hook shes ea senate eee Greshoff I: 52-53. 
Mundulea suberosa (DC.) Benth__| Bark, seed_-____- Howes, 1930: 133. 
Guineas) ees enh Os @voce HOO Kaisa ss snes ee ee ee Radlkofer, 1887: 405. 
Wiberigs: eb sse cae Leucaena odoratissima Hassk__.-.-}_._.--._--_------- Radlkofer, 1887: 408. 
Gold'@oast=- 2s Elaeophorbia drupifera Stapf____-_- Leaves, fruit__._| Howes, 1930: 134. 
Evory ©osst es ee Strychnos aculeata Solered_________ Rruite 2a sare Greshoff III: 130. 
West Africa____-______ Erythrophlewm guineense G. Don__} Bark__._---__-_- Howes, 1930: 133. 
Cassia sieberiana DOW 2-5-2 - = 22-8 Ponds Do. 
Chaslictiatozicaria.G: Dons). se |) eae ee ee Radlkofer, 1887: 403. 
Central Africa________ Cassia'sp: ee ee ee eee Greshoff II: 67. 
IBALANiLes QETU DUCED Ola enon | aoe se eee ee Greshoff III: 83. 
Cissusiquadrangularis Sos s oes eee eee Greshoff IIT: 107. 
Sudane22s¢ 0222 eres Mundulea suberosa we Benth__ “Bark, seed 0 Howes, 1930: 133. 
Adenium honghel A. DC__________- Root 2) Labs eee Howes, 1930: 134. 
Adenium speciosum ena Saute salle ke ee Do. 
Albyssinia 2320 = 2 Millettia ferruginea Baker. -2-25.2)) eee Radlkofer, 1887: 406. 
Verbascum phlomoides L__________- Rootst 2s ese QGreshoff I: 110. 
GONChOCOL DUS SDacene. a8 once a ou ee eee Greshoff ITI: 76. 
Solanum marginatum L. f.__----_- Stalk: 2a Greshoff ITI: 142. 
Tropical East Africa__| Tephrosia periculosa Baker_______.|___.-----________- Howes, 1930: 133. 
Madagascar !_________ Mundulea pauciflora Baker_______. Juice ey See EE, 1928: 253; Gres- 
to) 
Tephrosia vogelii Hook. f__._______- Teavesf.t ee Grandidier, G28: 253. 


ee ey 1928: 253; Gres- 
hoff III: 96. 
Granaidir, 1928: 253. 


Euphorbia laro Drake..-__--.-__-- J 


Barringtonia asiatica (L.) Kurz___- 
Barringtonia racemosa (L.) Bl 


Tephrosia monantha Baker _____-_- aoe 3h Ghaysten 1925: 1621. 
Mundulea striata Dubard and Dop_}|_____-__.-_--___-- Greshoff III: 70. 
Cape Verde Islands___| Frankenia ericifolia C. Sm________- Plantatesse ee Bowe 1930: 134; Greshoff 
ISLOLICE DECLITEALARAN GEE eae ee On eee _| Howes, 1930: 134. 
Aizoon canariense L___----_----- d Do. 
Madoeira=-.<2 222-222 = Euphorbia piscatoria Ait__ Do. 
Euphorbia mellifera Ait__.....-___ Do. 
Canary Islands_-_____- Euphorbia piscatoria Ait_......-.__|__-___ .-| Radlkofer, 1887: 413. 
Mauritius, Reunion__| Taeburnaemontana mauritiana | Bark___-__--___- Greshoff II: 106. 


Poir. 


1 See also Linton, 1933, pp. 58-59. 


i id ABORIGINAL FISH POISONS—HEIZER 265 


TABLE 6.—Distribution of fish-poison plants in Australia! 


Area Plant Part used Reference 
Australia.<.2%-2225--2 Acacia falcata Willd_._-_.--------- Leaves_.__-_---- Howes, 1930:142. 
Acacia penninervis Sieber_.._.-._-_|----- Goze wars. Do. 
Acacia salicina Lindl____....___.--]----- do:= sess: Do. 
Lenhrosia DUrpuUred (ls.) POrsecss na ase a ee eee Howes, 1930:144. 
Diospyros hebecarpa A. Cunn__-_-_-_- Bruits ses Howes, 1930:145; Hamlyn- 
as and Smith, 1916: 
Derris trifoliata Lour_..-----------|------------------ Howes, 1930:145. 
Aepicerasimajus'Gaertn-20 02) | Pees Pie Radlkofer, 1887:409. 
Adenanthera abrosperma F. Muell_| Bark___________- Greshoff III:62. 
Pongamia glabra Vent___--.------- Stems, roots_____ Greshoff III:77; Hamlyn- 
eet and Smith, 1916: 
Queensland..____._--- Eucalyptus microtheca F, Muell__.| Leaves______---- Howes, 1930:143; Hamlyn- 
ems and Smith, 1916: 
Barringtonia calyptrata R. Br_-___- Parken. 2s. thay ae 1930:143. 
Barringtonia asiatica (.) Kurz____| Bark, fruit_____- Howes, 1930:143; Hamlyn- 
Harris and Smith, 1916: 
15-16. 
Stephania hernandiaefolia Walp____| Plant__________- Shirley, 1896. 
Garcinia cherry? Baile =) ee do__..__.____| Walter E. Roth, 1901:19. 
Thespesia populnea Corr______-_-- Bralts 2s esso: Se Harr and Smith, 
Canarium australasicum__________- Wiood2s<22-osaea Do. 
Cupania pseudorhus A. Rich___-_-_- Barks coches: Do. 
Derris uliginosa Benth_--.________- Stalk=ss aie Pe Bes and Smith, 
i 
Tephrosia rosea F. Muell_________- Plan tee so eae eis -Harris and Smith, 
Albizzia procera Benth___________- Barks .e sven weer -Harris and Smith, 
Acacia snp et) wees -t shee ee: Bark, leaves_____ Do. 
Terminalia seriocarpa F, Muell____| Bark___________- eens -Harris and Smith, 
Sarcocephalus cordatus Miq_-___-._|----- GOMsss Aes ne ee rees -Harris and Smith, 
1 
Asclepias curassavica L___________- Plant= 2 ate Hamlyn. -Harris and Smith, 
Polygonum hydropiper L_.--___-.-_|----- G0:22t aia Hamlyn-Harris and Smith, 
1916:19-20. 
pi hai guadriloculare F. | Fruit---._._____- Do. 
uell. 
Alocasia macrorrhiza Schott_-__-____ Plants eee eee -Harris and Smith, 
Planchonia careya (F. Muell.) R. | Bark, root--_-___ Howes, 1930:143; Hamlyn- 
Knuth, a and Smith, 1916: 
ae pseudorhus (A. Rich.) | Bark-__._-______ Howes, 1930:143. 
adlk. 
Tephrosia astragaloides R. Br_____- TG VOSnses2 oan Walter E. Roth, 1897:95-96, 
EVR OSIE TOSER IN. WNL TIOL eee aks) eee eee a ceeie Howes, 1930:144. 
Faradaya splendida F. Muell_____- Bark 22 ei ees Greshoff III:136; Hamlyn- 
Hers and Smith, 1916: 
Dunk Island__-_____.- Derris koolgibberah Baill.___..____- Stalks a Howes, 1930:145; Hamlyn- 


Heres and Smith, 1916: 
Newabouthvy ales! =.) Acatiaispe 2255 2 s2o0 See tes so [es Se ae Greshoff IT:69-70. 


1 For full data, see Maiden, 1894; Hamlyn-Harris and Smith, 1916; Howes, 1930, pp. 142-146. 


TaBLE 7.—Distribution of fish-poison plants in California 


Tribe Plant Part used Reference 
Wiallaki: 2202 ets coe pomeridianum (Ker) | Root____.-----_- Powers, 1877:117. 
unth. 
IKatozes--=-_ 2a ees ANGE CO SD Soa: as eet ee Fe Plante. 2 eee Loeb, 1932:46. 
ph pomeridianum (Ker) | Root__.__---_--_ Do. 
unth 
Wok. . 25S :eet _wetad Echinocystis oregana (Cogn.)_-.--__|_-___--_--________ Chesnut, 1902:390-91. 
Aesculus californica (Sooeny Nutt. | Shoots, leaves..__| Chesnut, 1902:367. 
Winti 2 Sees er teen Si a pomeridianum (Ker) | Plant__-____-___ Du Bois, 1935:17. 
unth. 
Echinocystis fabacea Naud-_-_-------]| Root_____-_-____ R. K. Beardsley, MS. 
Eremocarpus setigerus (Hook.) | Plant_._._______- R. K. Beardsley, Field 


Benth. Report (MS.). 


266 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLL. 151 


TABLE 7.—Distribution of fish-poison plants in California—Continued 


Tribe Plant Part used Reference 
Wish ss eee a “Squirting cucumber’’__..________ BE) ee Pope, 1918:130. 
Nomlaki, Maidu_-__-_- Trichostema lanceolatum Benth.-___| Plant__._______- Chesnut, 1902:385. 
Maite ee ee pa Setigerus (Hook.) |__-_- (o\c eee eee Greshoff I11:89-90. 
enth. 
Aesculus californica (Spach) Nutt. | Shoots, leaves_..| Chesnut, 1902:367. 
Lolowatiess ses sass oe pomeridianum (Ker) | Root___-_-_----_ Drucker, 1937:294. 
unth 
IPomoat2 3 Satie Fe ak Echinocystis fabacea Naud_-___----_|____- OES sat ee ee Loeb, 1926:169. 
Chlorogalum pomeridianum (Ker) |___-- GOn 8 aoe te en Knifien, 1939:376; Chesnut, 
Kunth. 1902:320. 
reipocar ats setigerus (Hook.) | Plant....-.---_- Chesnut, 1902:363, 321. 
enth. 
Datisca_glomerata (Presl) Benth. |.---_-.--__-----__ Chesnut, 1902:370. 
and Hook. 
Central Miwok-____-_- Aesculus californica (Spach) Nutt. | Nuts_.-_----____ Barrett and Gifford, 1933:190. 
Ciorogahum pomeridianum (Ker) | Root_____---_--_- Do. 
unth. 
Southern Miwok_---_- Aesculus californica (Spach) Nutt. | Nuts__--_-_--___ R. K. Beardsley, Field 
Report (MS38.). 
Echinocystis horrida Congdon_____- Seeds, root_.____ R. K. Beardsley, MS. 
WiapDpos.---- ae Chorognltim pomeridianum (Ker) | Root_----------_- Driver, 1936:185. 
unth. 
Eremocarpus setigerus Benth_._.--| Plant__..-_-___- Do. 
INisenan Ss eee Chlorogalum pomeridianum (Ker) | Root__------__-- Beals, 1933:347; Powers, 
Kunth. 1872:375-376, 423. 
Jer emporar Dts sehigerus: (Hook) Plants 2222 s=22 Beals, 1933:347. 
enth. 
Aesculus californica (Spach) Nutt. | Nuts__._--_-___- Powers, 1873:375-376, 423. 
Salineriss spas 65 lk EE Be 2 Oe aes Se ee ee oe eee J. Alden Mason, 1912:124. 
Owens V. Paiute____- Smilacina sessilifolia Nutt____-___- Roots Steward, 1933:251. 
NOKUtS ts Sime rier ad Chlorogalum pomeridianum Kunth }____- Cows cate kal R. K. Beardsley, Field 
Report (MS.). 
Aesculus californica (Spach) Nutt. | Nuts_._-_-_____- Kroeber, 1925:529. 
Chlorogalum pomeridianum Kunth | Root___-__--_-_- R. K. Beardsley, Field 
Report (MS.). 
Polygonum lapathifolium L________ Plants R. K. Beardsley, MS. 
Eremocarpus setigerus (Hook.) |____- Goze =e oes Do. 
Benth. 
Trichostema lanceolatum Benth____|____- == Do. 
Northfork Mono-______ SA ad setigerus (Hook.) |_-_-- do-se) 2a Do. 
enth, 
Umbellularia californica Nutt_____- eagves:- =. sas Do. 
Aesculus californica (Spach) Nutt. |____- dos ee Do. 


TaBLE 8.—Distribution of fish-poison plants in the Antilles 


Area Plant Part used Reference 
‘Antilles. qe. 2ee e053 PROUUINAGCUTAUTU Nas sees | een cc ae Raat ole 1887:403. 
POULIN DITTO Oh is ee ee ee ee 
ROMUT TAD] OMVOACEN SE SH VUS Clee es | eee Raarhoter, 1887:404. 
ephrosiatoxvicarigi(Siwe) seers ae jae eee Radlkofer, 1887:405. 
REDRTOSIGCINET EG) (las) UE CLS oe es | eee eee 
a CR Latifolius: \QWillds) in| iruite-= en Radikoter, 1887:406-407. 
Phaseolus lathyroides L_______-_-_- Jmicela 2S eee Radlkofer, 1887:406. 
Jacquinia barbasco (Loefl.) Mez__..|__..-------------- 
Leaves, fruit____| Radlkofer, 1887:410. 
SBD OTOL OICOLUIIAS OLS Cpe nen ea | eee ge Radlkofer, 1887:413. 
Serjania polyphylia (L.) Radlk____|___.---------_-__- Do. 
Bahamas. = see Icthyomethia piscipula (L.) Hitche_| Bark, leaves__-__ Goggin, 1939:25. 
Cuba ee Agnperame;ntCOng li ae eae | ee eee oe ee Greshoff I1:149. 
OCLOWR ICON eee Canella winterana (L.) Gaertn__...|-_...--.._----._.- Greshoff 11:20. 
Dominica ss euease Phylianthus brasiliensis (Aubl.) | Leaves______-_-- Taylor, 1938:145. 
Muell. Arg 
DIOS DYTOSISD Eee ee aa Nit eee eee avers tee a Greshofi 
Ichthyomethia piscipula (L..) Hitche.|_____ do___.__--_--} Taylor, 1938:145; Radlkofer 
1887:407-408. 
Jams ical ae sees Sapindus saponaria L____________- Seeds, root_____- Greshoff 1:42. 
Euphorbia punicea Sw___________-- Leaves, fruit__._| Radlkofer, 1887:413. 
Tecoma teucozylon (Ga) Nears oe ee eens eee Radlkofer, 1887:412. 
Martinique-_-__________ Clitoria arborescens Ait.?_____- Radlkofer, 1887:406. 
Basanacantha armata Hook. f Greshoff II:88-89. 


Chbadiimibarbasco) DC eee | eee eee Greshofi IT:89. 


1For further data, see Blake, 1919. 


ANTHROP, PAP. 
No. 38] ABORIGINAL FISH POISONS—-HEIZER 267 


TaBLE 9.—Disiribution of fish-poison plants in Guatemala, Mexico, and the 
southeastern United States 


Area or tribe Plant Part used Reference 
Guatemala !_____.___- Enterolobium cyclocarpum Gris_---|------------------ Wisdom, 1940:77-78. 
MAC UNPUn CEM Wa. fae ee ees | eee ee eee Do. 
(POULIN GISp = 2 ee 5 eee Stalksssese. 28 Do. 
DANA AINE MOLAR AD & [ol 31h « Goan ee aman Wet SRM Se eee Fagundes, 1935:73. 
eae. CNionth| Av wild svine® 2-3 222s see ee eae Stalke ese Bancroft, 1886:720-721. 
coast). 
VIG XI CO ee ere Gowanigisprre es. aoe eet eas ae eee eee Greshoff I:32; Radlkofer, 
1887:398, 402. 
Paullinia costata Schlecht. and |_----------------- Radlkofer, 1887:398, 404; 
Cham. Greshoff 1:40. 
Buddleia verticillata H.B.K__------ Plant: 22 Greshoff I1:110-111. 
TM EVELIONETIL OLE USS hen ono ee pe ee eee Fagundes, 1935:74. 
Ipomoea tuberosa L_--------------- ROOtSS24—=- eee Greshoff 11:113. 
Schoenocaulon officinale A. Gray___|------------------ Greshoff I[1:152-153. 
FETT) CHEMI OMS lane oe ee Sap 5 eae are. Rose, 1899:257. 
Fura polvyandrayB ails es See dol .| Howes, 1930:138. 
Chiapas, Mexico-_----- Jacquinea seleriana Urb and Loesn_|----- do_ s Do. 
Tehuantepec-_-____----- Sapindus saponaria L___---------- Plante seen Barnard, 1852:212. 
Popiilies,CVierachiz) Es | shee ak 82 Oe en ee Bas tet sa teened doa G. Foster (information). 
HaneVlantiny eal pan: 2) | estes seeker peer eS Peas ene do Sara Do. 
CH TTepeG VLE XICO se emo eee eee eee a sok BES Vine stalk______- Weitlaner, 1940:170. 
2 bela ge popes ot So a EPS ERA SERS: Se Root_-_---------| Weitlaner, 1940:172. 
Otom PAZ teC > 525 ee | Oe A eer So ee a a ee ee Do. 
INVAP OES aes ES Merremia tuberosa (L.) Rendle___-| Root___---_-___- Greshoff IT:113. 
WOOT EC ce Se Ra Foie ke ee Day ee SE Os ee Sener ae Weitlaner, 1940:172. 
Marghumare sesso. Se Tephrosia talpa Wats_.------------ Plantes eee Bennett and Zingg, 1935: 
140. 
Casimiroa edulis Liav. and Lex_-_-_-__|_---- OES ease se Bennett and Zingg, 
1935:170. 
Casimiroa sapota Oerst__----------|----- doz Ses Do. 
Calcalia decomposita A. Gray-_-----|----- do. 2S Do. 
On OCCU LAL DOW ALS as eee ener eee ee Hove oe Do. 
Sebastiania bilocularis S. Wats____- Saps se Clavigero, 1937:55. 
PON GONLIMIS DE ao ae ee oe > | ae ee Lumholtz, 1903:vol. 1, p. 
401. 
SAGGUE'SD etree = ee eS Piantes seo Do. 
INGANED ewan ee ote eer ee Nt ee see eee Beals, 1932:167. 
SGT et a4 ae tea Fa Jacquinia pungens A. Gray___----- Barkos: see seas Drucker, 1941:225; Weit- 
laner, 1940:171. 
Opatar i 2enas ees SANGO SO (QQ) eee see eee Sapeo: Jes Goss Drucker, 1941:225; Obre- 
gon, 1928:172. 
NES TITY ARES ees re ne ee ee ae ae es Sl eee dP lee Drucker, 1941:225. 
Baja California _-_--_- Sebastiana pavoniana Muell. Arg_- Greshodt II:144; Ten Kate, 
Lophocereus schotti (Engelm) Br. | Plant_.___---__- H. Aschmann (informa- 
and Rose. tion 
Machaerocereus gummosus Britt. |_---- do=sesses-——— Greshoff III:114; 
and Rose. Brandegee, 1890:107. 
| Ola Yeo) of: ane eee ee SQU2) Se ce mee cen oes ee ee oe MCAVeSse = esse Gifforo, 1933:268. 
Bout eastern United | =Aescul ua spe. seo eee eae IN UTSeeee eee Adair, 1930:432. 
tates. 
CHOCISWE--s= ne. = PACRCULILS SD sac po See nea s Se Sina Sent do==s22==— Swanton, 1931:55. 
Ilex verticillata GMiGray () a Planteceseece es Do. 
TEDRTOSTONSD snes or es (oh BE Do. 
@herokeese=--=--e = ALGLOTS So see sks et aes Se Bark! 2 ese Mooney, 1900:422. 
@atdwihass2222--. == UO UONUS AGN) We eo oe ae eee Nits Speck, 1934:73-74. 
NATO Oe pes Ae ae a Tephrosia virginiana (L.) Pers_---- Roots Speck, 1909:23. 
Creekee ree PAC SOULUIR SD een eae eae INGtS 2222 eee Speck, 1909:24. 
Dewars (ORda) eee a Wonglans Spe = ae 2 ee oo ee Green nuts__-_--- Harrington, 1913:222. 
Aesculus Chie WhillGeeeA ee ESTs INTIS SoS Tantaquidgeon, 1942:25. 
Wioridasessa- se se = Cornus amomum Mill____--------- Bak. = Glennan, 1885:10-11. 
Piscidia communis__.-.------------ ROOtSs see Killip, 1937:56. 


1 Wisdom (1940, pp. 77-78) mentions other piscicidal plants (bejuco de pescado, camote sylvestre, mata- 
pescado, zopilote, siete pellejus) but without botanical identification, 


268 


BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Buby 151 


TaBLE 10.—Distribution of fish-poison plants in South America } 


Area 


Brazil 


Plant Part used Folk name Reference 
Patllinig thalictrifolia/ JUSS =e ee | ee eee ee eee Redikoter, 1887: 
Magonia pubescens St. Hil______- Leaves, | Tingui; tingui Radlkofer, 1887: 
bark. capeta. 404; Fagundes, 
1935:72. 
Magonia glabrata St. Hil_________ Bark, roots._| Tingui; Timb6 | Radlkofer, 1887: 
asst. 405;  Fagundes, 
1935: 72.4 
Cenirosema plumieri (Turp.) | Bark_______- Guaiana-timb6?_._| Radlkofer,~ 1887: 
Benth. 406. 
Clitoria amazonum Mart.?___--_- Branches_.__| Timb6 de cono?__- Do. 
Camptosema (7?) pinnatwm |-------------- Gorano-timb6-_---- Do. 
Benth. 
Camptosema\ sD == =. a2 82-2] e ee sRimbOs--sas see 
Lonchocarpus rariflorus Mart.?__|-----------_-- Taraira-moir&?___- Redikter, 1887: 
Bowdichia virgilioides Kunth_____|--------_--_-- Sopipiras.s--e ce Radiioter, 1887: 
Bauhinia guianensis AuDee 9 - | 222 ee |e re ee ee Do. 
EG UIMINOSTESD wee re oe eee eee ee Piracu-fiba____.--- Do. 
Gustavia brasiliana DC______---- cg eee Janiparandiba; | Radlkofer, 1887: 
japarandiba; 409; Fagundes, 
japarandi; geni- 1935:71. 
parana. 
Ichthyothere cunabi Mart__.---_-- Plants. 2 Cunabi; cunambi; Do. 
conamy. 
Thevetia peruviana (Pers.) | Leaves, | Ahoui-guacu; | Radlkofer, 1887: 
Schum. fruit jorro-jorro. 


409; Wie Fagundes, 
Radlkofer, 1887: 
Fagundes, 1935:70. 


Fagundes, 1935:71; 
Filho, 1935:19. 


Taraira-moir&___-_- 


Odontadenia cururu K. Sch_____-|--__- (3 Lo eee Cipo cururu-_-___- Fagundes, 1935:72. 
Pachyrrhizus angulatus Rich_-___|-------------- Jacatupe2-=—--- == Do 
Paullinia alata (Ruiz and Pay.) }----------_--- Urariana: 2. See Do 


Vellard, 1941; 83. 
Fagundes, 1935:70. 


Fagundes, 1935:71. 
Fagundes, 1935:71; 

Vellard, 1941:83. 
Fagundes, 1935:72. 


Tingir de Perou_-_- 
Anaticum do 
Brejo. 
inladentaitlistria Wiel = se |e eer ee ee eee 
Indigofera lespedezicides H. B. K_ i iri 


on. 
Phyllanthus piscatorum H. B. K_ 
TANNONG SPiNescens Wiart= on sca-n| nose ana ce eee 


Timbo peba; 
tingui de Folha 
Grande. 


Paullinia meliaefolia Juss____-___]-------------- 


Paullinia rubiginosa Camb__-_---]-------------- Cruapé-vermelho_ Do. 
iBodlinigivigonig Wels ee | eee eee Pineal timb6o Do. 
aitica. 
Phytlanthus cladotrichus Muell_-_|_-..---------- Nerva de pombin- Do. 
A ha da serra. 


Fagundes, 1935:72; 
Vellard, 1941:83. 

Fagundes, 1935:72. 

Vellard, 1941:82. 


Fagundes, 1935:71. 
Fagundes, 1935:71; 
Filho, 1935:19. 


Conami; timbd 
conabi. 
Tingui de peixe___ 
Herba de bicho; 
cataya. 
Clibadium barbasco DO____-—--=-|_.-22-2-2=__2_| "ee 
Derris pterocarpa (DC.) Killip___}_-_-_---______ Timb6; timb6é 
dematta; timbé- 
rana; timbo cip6 
timb6-asst. 


rg. 
Phyllanths SW ee eee 


Phyllanthus piscatorum H. B. K_|_-------_--__- 
POUGONALTE ACTER E nbs en ee ee eee 


Fagundes, 1935:71. 
Fagundes, 1935:73; 
Vellard, 1941:82. 
Fagundes, 1935:73. 


Clibadium surinamense L___--.__|-------------- 

PiscidigieriLanina ae) see eee Timb6é; |. timbo 
boticario. 

Quiti; maca- 


SDN GUS SUDO OTe ee ee 
acaipt; casita; 


jequitir-guassa. 
Serjania communis Camb_------]-------------- Timbo méndo-___-_- Do. 
Serjuniaicuspidata) Campee sone eeee see ee Timbo capelludo; Do. 

timbo de peixe. 
Serjania dentata (Vell.) Radlk-_--]------_-_____-- Timb6. de restin- Do. 

gas. 
EFIGNIC GLUbrOlartle, De Kes | ae ee Mamtujazs-= sess Do. 
Serjaniopaucidentata i) ©. aes Cee a ae eee Do. 
Serjania purpurascens Radlk_-___|--.-------_--- -Timb6 vermelho__ Do. 
Talisigwsesciaenca, ((St-) eis) eee Pitombeira___--__- Fagundes, 1935:74. 


Timbo cfa; ajaré__| Fagundes, 1935:74; 


Radlk. 
Tephrosiamizens* Benth =o) | =e 
Filho, 1935:19. 


See footnotes at end of table. 


ae ABORIGINAL FISH POISONS—HEIZER 269 


TaBLE 10.—Distribution of fish-poison plants in South America—Continued 


Area Plant Part used Folk name Reference 
Brazil) 2220 sie Thevetia ahouai (L.) A. DO____--}-------------- AgaiTe S253 Foes Fagundes, 1935:74. 
Tripterodendron fittcifolium. |e 2k ee Farinha secca----- Do. 
(Linden) Redlk. 

Enterolobiuwm timbouva Mart_-__--|-.------------ Orelha de preto; | Filho, 1935:19. 
Timbor&; tim- 
boura. 

Cleome spinosa Jacq. (?).--------|--==---------- Tareraiya--------- ea aroler, 1887: 

Serjonia tethatisiSt, Hil!=22--]2--|=---=---.--.-- Cipo de timb6o; | Radlkofer, 1887: 
matta fomo; 408. 
pehko. 

Serjania erecta Radlk__---------- Stem, leaves_| Timbo bravo; cipo Do. 
de timb6; turari. 

Serjania ichthyoctona Radlk------|-------------- Timb6; timbé de | Radlkofer, 1887: 
peixe; tingui 403; Fagundes, 
legitimo. 1935: 73. 

Serjania acuminata Radlk-_-.-_.--|-------------- Timbo de peixe--- Do. 

Serjania piscatoria Radlk-_--- Tingi; tingui de Do. 


peixe. 


Paullinia cupona H. B. K_._.---|--.-------=-=- Guarané------.--- Badlkorr, 1887; 
Thevetia ahouai (L.) A. DC-_----- Leaves,fruit_| Ahoui-mirim--_--- Radlkofer, 1887: 
Buddleia brasiliensis Jacq_-------|-------------- Barbascol-----25—-— Radlkofer, 1887: 
411; Fagundes, 
1935: 70. 
Euphorbia cotinoides Miq--------|-------------- Gunapalu; assu- | Radlkofer, 1887: 
cu-i; leiteira. = Vellard, 1941; 
Phyllanthus conami Sw--.-------- Fruit,leaves_| Conami-_---------- Radhkoter, 1887: 
Piranhee trifoliata Baill_--------- Stems------- Piranha-Gba; pi- Radliofer, 1887: 
rand-Gba; py- pe Vellard, 1941: 
ranheira. 
Ruprechtia laurifolia C. A. Mey-| Leaves------ Ania Seuss tim- Gexhott III: 36. 
ubeba. 
Paullinia australis St. Hil--.----]-------------- Timbé6; timbé de | Greshoff III:102; 
Rio Grande. pennies, 1935: 
Paullinia pinnate Tas v2. = 22a 2 | seas ses onc eee Timb6é; matta na Ww. Bates, 1892: 


poreo; Cururu- 
apé; timb6 cipd; 
quae verme- 


220-21; Fagundes, 
1935: 72; Filho, 
1935: 19. 


0. 

Paullinia trigonia Vell__--.------ Barks:ers Tingui sipo_-_----- Greshoff II: 37. 

Joannesia princeps Vell_-------- Bark, juice-.| Anda, anda-assu--| Radlkofer, 1887: 
414; Fagundes, 
1935: 71. 

Manihot esculenta Crantz-_..----- Juice; roote =| Sesse ates eee eS ei 1887: 

TUF OU CTEDUONS Visses 22 = eee ee duice ee. =s- Arceira; oassucu; | Radlkofer, 1887: 


assaci; assaca. 415; Fagundes, 
1935: 71. 

Killip and Smith, 
1931: 407. 

Killip and Smith, 
1931: 407; Filho, 
1935: 18. 


Killip and Smith, 
1931; 407. 


Lonchocarpus nicou (Aubl.) DC_| Le ay: es, | Timbo legitimo- -- 
roots 
Lonchocarpus urucu K. and S_-_| Leaves, ete.-| Timbéuruc6;tim- 
b6 macaquinho; 
timbo rouge; 
timb6o carajura. 
Tephrosia toxicaria (Sw.) Pers---| Leaves, etc_-| Timbo de Cayen- 
ne;onabouboue; 


anil bravo. 
Mephrosigiemangincra epi. sae en eae eee ana e nee Saree Killip and Smith, 
1931: 407; Fagun- 
des, 1935: 74. 
Clibadium sylvestre (Aubl.) Baill_|..--------.---]-------------------- cere ene Smith, 
Enterolobium timbotiva Mart-_-.--|_------------- Timbouva-------- Greshoff III: 61. 
Derris negrensis Benth--.-.------|-------------- Timborana; tim- | Greshoff III: 74; 
bé guassis. Vellard, 1941: 82. 
Serjania novia Camb-.-_.--------}-------------- Timb6 de leite--..| Greshoff ITI: 105. 
Cestrum laevigatum Schlecht_.---|_-------------|-------------------- Greshoff III: 139. 
Guiana 2___-_-__- Manihot esculenta Crantz_-_------ Rootes 2k See ee Gillin, 1936: 13-14. 
VOCGTONGE Dr OCerG BPleb ee. aos |e se eae ee eee eee ee ae eeenee Radlkofer, 1887: 
Euphorbia cotinoides Miq--------|-------------- Gunapalu...<-.--- et i 1887: 
Phyllanthus conami Sw---------- Fruit,leaves_| Conami-_--------.- Radlkofer, 1887: 


414 
See footnotes at end of table. 


270) BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 


[BuLL. 151 


TaBLE 10.—Distribution of fish-poison plants in South America—Continued 


Area Plant Part used Folk name Reference 
Giiana® —= = |pephrosia cinerea, (ia. se ers= === |e ee Sinapoue-s = Rarlcoter, 1887: 
Lonchocarpus densiflorus Benth_| Roots_------ Hairi; bastard Walter E. Roth, 
hairri. 1924; 203; Gillin’ 


Lonchocarpus rariflorus Mart__--|..--.--------- Fai faia noroko-..-| 

Lonchocarpus rufescens Benth---| Roots-----_- BIT. 2 2 aves ee 

Clibadium asperum DC__-_------ Leaves,fruit_| Conami_..._-____- 

Clibadium surinamense Iu.-._----|_---- G02. .2238 | a ase eee 

Tephrosia toricaria (Sw.) Pers_-.|-------------- Counami; yarro 
conalli. 

Beep ee amas Sets 2 Tree chips__| Wa’u; mora balli_- 
Caryocariolabratm) Pers:=0. eee ee) eee 
PADUNCGCULANEN SI SEA TID loses ee ee Bois de Golette_-- 
Lonchocarpus nicou (Aubl.) DC_| Branches__._| Nicou; Inekou; 

“veal _hiaree’’; 
heirri; haiari. 
Mueleras i jrutescens’ \(AubIs) 2.2222 --- = Haiariballi________ 
Standl. 
PerrisiguianensissBenth.==-——2_ 42s. 2. | ee ee 
Cassia venenifera Rodschied._.___| Roots____-_- Pidgin Ss 2 
Bauhinia guianensis Aubl._.-____|_-----____-_-- Hikuritarifon_____- 
Gustaviavaugwstals.2- 82 2 Sl = | ee ee oe 
Clibaasumisunin cimenee tiaesee oe | "eee eee ae | ee 
Senjaniapaucidentata WO. 2) 222s) e See ee Abahonetsts ass 
Serjania pyramidata Radlk.__._|_-._-------___ Casiteeey. oo urna 
SeniANIGiSpD eeaas en eae Hebechiabo; kotu- 
Talisia squarrosa Radlk. .______.-|_------------- White moruballi.. 
Alera imperatricis (Schomb.) |___---_______- Heairiballiaes = 
Baker. 
Antonia ovata (Hook). Prog.__---|_-___-.__--__.| Inyfku_----_--____ 
OCGUINIG SDs soe eee Ls Sire ae eterumbalii Sa 
Clathropis brachypetala (Tul.) |__-.--__._---- Arumatta-_=.=22-= 
Kleinh. 
LEN DerSDD she a2 Ss Mees hh | ta dot} Se Warakabakoro; to- 
Pothomorpha peltata (L) Mig. |---_---------- Duburibanato___-- 
PiyllonthasiconamiS wens. 2 =| seen ee Bois 4 enivrer tue 
poisson. 
Eastern Peru ._| Tephrosia toxicaria (Sw.) Pers._.| Leaves__---- bees ete ree 


Lupinus mutabilis Sweet .-_----- 


Lonchocarpus nicou (Aubl.) DC_| Leaves 


Serjania glabrata Kunth________- Stalk = Viera peti as 
Serjania rubicaulis Benth________]_____ dorst-22 |: ay: ‘doz. :4s2 aie 
Serjania rufa Radlk________.____|_____ d= 2 hes dos=-- ses 
Clibadium strigillosum Blake---_|-------------- Quacowtl aes 
Clibadium vargasii DC__________- Plant»... -<=|: 5 ee eee 
Pera --247_ teats, ibobeliatitpa Ws stew Se S| | 
Tephrosia toxicaria (Sw.) Pers__._|_-_-__________ Barbascoss: 452 
Apurimacia incarum Harms_____|______________ Chancanhuai_--_-__ 
Lonchocarpus nicow (Aubl.) DO_|______________ Kumu; koubé; co- 
~ napi; pacai; bar- 
basco. 
SADINGUSSODONGTS lam |e SUCH aae a aeeee 
Ginchonaispee se Barkt==) = WA oe ae ee 


See footnotes at end of table. 


1936 1l- 14; Radl- 
kofer, 1887: 407. 
Archer, 1934: 205. 
Walter E. Reth, 
1924: 203; Gillin; 
1936: 13. 
Quelch, 1894: 238; 
Walter E. Roth, 
1924: 203-204. 
Ba noler, 1887: 


Walter E. Roth, 
1924; 203-204. 
Walter E. Roth, 
1924: 204, 
Gillin, 1936: 13. 


Radlkofer, 1887: 
Radlkotr, 1887: 
Radiiiofer, 1887: 


Es Greshoff ITI: 
Greshott Ill: 76; 


RudTioler, 1887: 

Radlkotr, 1887: 

Ratlikofer, 1887: 
408; Archer, 1934: 
205. 

Radlkofer, 1887: 
409. 


Do. 

Archer, 1934: 205, 
Do. 
Do. 


Do. 
Do. 


Do. 
Do. 
Do. 


Do. 


Do. 
Vellard, 1941: 83. 


Killip and Smith, 
1931: 408; Good- 
specd, 1941: 152; 
ee 1930: 


Bn PPD 
Killip and Smith, 
1931: 403. 
Killip and Smith, 
1931: 404. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Tessmann, 1¢30: 


ane 
Radlkofer, 1887: 
409. 
Herrera, 1940: 81. 
Herrera, 1940: 86. 
Herrera, 1940: 98; 
Fagundes, 1935: 
71-72; Vellard, 
1941:82. 
Herrera, 1940:118. 
Greshoff II: 88. 


ANTHROP. PAP. 


No. 38] 


ABORIGINAL FISH POISONS—-HEIZER 


271 


TaBLE 10.—Distribution of fish-poison plants in South America—Continued 


Argentina 


Area 


Paraguay - ----- 


8 


Plant 


Serjania lethalis Sr. Hil 
Lobelia tupa L 


Euphorbia caracasana Boiss_---.-|}-------------- 


Lonchocarpus rufescens Benth. 


Agave americana L___---- 
Gustavia augusta L 


Clibadium barbasco DC 


Jacquinia arborea Vahl 


Bryrsonima crassifolia H. 


Part used 


B. K_.| Branches_-_- 


Cusparia trifoliata (Willd.) Engl_|-------------- 
Polygonum glabrum Willd__-----|-------------- 


Piscidea guaricensis Pittier 


Tchthyothere terminalis (Spreng.) 


Blake. 
Tephrosis tozicaria (Sw.) 


Tephrosia cinerea L 


Hura crepitans L 


Phyllanthus piscatorum H. B. K__|__------------ 


Jacquinia aristata Jacq 
Jacquinia revoluta Jacq 
Jacquinia mucronulata B 
Jacquinia armillaris Jacq 


Indogifera suffruticosa Mill 


Piper riolimonense Trel_- 


Thevetia 
Schum. 


peruviana 


Serjania inebrians Radlk 
Piper darienense C, DC 
Louchocarpus densiflorus 


Lonchocarpus rufescens B 


Lonchocarpus nicow (Aubl.) DC 
Polygonum acre H. B. K- 


Polygonum acre H. B. K 


Cardiospermum grandiflorum Sw- 

Thinouia paraguayensis Radlk - _- 
Phyllanthus conami Sw-- 
Tephrosiatoxicaria (Sw.) Pers_--- 


Lonchocarpus violaceus H. 
Euphorbia cotinoides Miq 
Lonchocarpus densiflorus 


Lonchocarpus rufescens Benth. -_-- 


Lonchocarpus nicou (Aubl.) DC..- 


See footnotes at end of table. 


IPers----|O0ts— = —=== 
ice) Poe 
(Pers. ft 
Piet ae Leaves_--_-_-- 
Benth=|| Roots==-==== 
enthe.a|o dose 
ete: Goltesss: 
eres Leaves_____- 
Pianta 

BA Kece || sae 
Benth...| Roots__--_-- 
pea oho (ores ot oe 

a ata(0 (i) ee ee 


Folk name 


Tote; barbasco---- 
Pehko; sacha 


Barbasco amarillo; 
barbasco; juque. 


‘Barbasco==<.----- = 


Chaparro de Man- 
teca. 

Barbasco; “chigui-- 
rera. 


Borracho; _jebe, 
barbasco amari- 
Nlo; barbasco 


jaune. 

Galicosa; jarilla; 
dictamo real. 

Barbasco de raiz; 
kouna. 


Sen senextranjero; 
barbasco blanc. 

Jabillo; ceibo blan- 
co. 

Barbascayo- ------ 


Barbasco; _olivo; 
chilca; chirca. 


Afialito; Raiz de 
la virgen. 

Raiz de muela__-_-_- 

Caruache; casca- 
bel; lechero; cru- 


Caa ta 


Wanamoe; 
kali; koenamie. 
Nekoe; Hojali---_. 
Koenapaloe_------ 


Reference 


Von Hagen, 1939: 
38-39. 

Greshoff I: 36. 

Radlkofer, 1887: 


409. 
Radlkofer, 1887: 
413; Greshoff, I: 
132. 
Ramirez, 1943: 504. 


Greshoff, II: 149-50. 

Readlkofer, 1887: 
409. 

Ramirez, 1943:504; 
Radlkofer, 1887: 


409. 

Ra dlkofer, 1887: 
410. 

Greshoff, II: 27-28. 


Greshoff IT: 29. 
Vellard, 1941:82; 
Ramirez, 1943: 


504. 

Vellard,  1941:82; 
Ramirez, 1943: 
504. 


Vellard, 1941: 84. 


Vellard, 1941:82-83; 
Ramirez, 1943: 
504. 

Ramirez, 1943: 504; 
Vellard, 1941: 83. 

Vellard, 1941: 83. 


Ramirez, 1943: 504; 
Vellard, 1941: 83. 


Ramirez, 1943: 503; 
Vellard, 1941: 83. 


Ramirez, 19438: 503. 


Ramirez, 1943: 504. 
Velland, 1941: 84. 


Byaikoter, 1887: 

Radixoter, 1887: 

Roth, Walter E., 
1924: 202. 

Roth, Walter E., 
1924: 

Roth, Walter E., 


192 4: 203. 
Vellard, 1941:82. 
Do. 


Do. 
Vellard, 1941: 83. 
Greshoft IIT: 87. 
Greshatt TEE 71,76; 
4, 
Greshofi IIT: 76. 
Greshoff III: 76, 94. 
_ Walter E., 


lard, 1941, 82. 


272 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLy. 151 


TABLE 10.—Distribution of fish-poison plants in South America—Continued 


Area Plant Part used Folk name Reference 
Surinam._______ Serjania inebrians Radlk._-._---- Vine Barbasco Baerse eee s Conzemius, 1932: 70. 
Colombia.--._-| Tephrosiatozicaria (Sw.) Pers. - -- Roots pate see ||- See, (eae Waseem, 1935: 103- 

Derris elliptica (Roxb.) Benth. ___|_____ GO. 2 | See ee Santesson, 1935: 25. 
Tropical Amer-| Sapindus saponaria L.___-___-__- Leaves_____- Sapo indicus; ja- | Radlkofer, 1887: 404. 
ica. boncillo. 
UNGSSOVi Ct f¥teChi COS GAC C= ae | eee ee Greshoff IT: 53. 
POV QOTALT CU NTA TELAT En occ | re ee es | ee ee Vellard, 1941: 182. 
Cassia semperjiorensiD C.2- 2 as eee eee Greshoff III: 64. 


1 See Métraux, 1928; Nordenskiéld, 1920; Killip and Smith, 1930, 1931, 1935; Radlkofer, 1887; Lowie, 1940; 
Howes, 1930, pp. 134-38; Roark, 1936, pp. 19-27; 1938, pp. 23-24. 

2 See also Archer, 1934; Martyn and Follett- Smith, 1936. 

3 For further data, see "Borst Pauwels, 1903 a, 1903 b. 


NOTE 


Since the present paper was written a dozen years ago much new information 
on the subject has appeared. Although it is not feasible to cite all the recent 
additions to fact, a few references have been added to the bibliography in galley 
and others are cited here. 

Rostlund’s preliminary paper of 1948 has been followed by a recent monograph 
(Rostlund, 1952) which deals extensively with fresh-water fish and fishing in abo- 
riginal North America. Rostlund discusses the physical environment of fish 
poisoning as a culture trait (pp. 127-129), a subject which I have here only men- 
tioned. His distributional data (pp. 129, 130, 188-190, map 39) agree with mine 
in showing two major and disparate areas of fish drugging, California and the 
Southeast. Eschewing speculation on the possibility of historical connection 
between the two areas, Rostlund (pp. 131-133) considers the possibility of historic 
introduction of fish poisoning in the Southeast through Europeans or African 
Negroes. The idea is a good one, and I did not see it. In addition to the South- 
eastern tribes listed here in table 9 as employing piscicides, Rostlund cites the 
Chickasaw. More northerly tribes cited by him include the Penobscot, Iroquois, 
Delaware, Nanticoke, Powhatan tribes (?) and Sauk. Rostlund discusses and 
rejects the hypothetical circum-North Pacific route of introduction of fish poison- 
ing to North America. 

R. H. Lowie (1951, pp. 18-20) has discussed some generalities of fish drugging 
in world perspective and as illustrative of certain cultural processes. 

G. Hewes (1942) in a study of northern California fishing has plotted the distri- 
bution of fish poisoning, and a useful note by McFarland (1951) further supple- 
ments the data on California Indian piscicides. 

Et. dae 
May 1962. 


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278 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY {BuLL. 151 


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909871—52 19 


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Noes ABORIGINAL FISH POISONS—HEIZER 283 
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SOUTH AMERICAN INDIANS POISONING FISH, FORTALEZA, NEAR YURIMONGAS. 


BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 151 PLATE 19 


PLANTATION OF FISH-POISON PLANTS, FORTALEZA, NEAR YURIMONGAS. 


SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 
Bureau of American Ethnology 
Bulletin 151 


Anthropological Papers, No. 39 


Aboriginal Navigation off the Coasts of Upper and 
Baja California 


By ROBERT F. HEIZER and WILLIAM C. MASSEY 


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CONTENTS 


PAGE 
TORIC DIG Ss 2 ela os SNe Val ak Sa oe See Se a ee eet eer 289 
SIMIC MIN RIRGS re” 82a os Mt oe ae oe ee oe ree eee 291 
is polG Can Ode. = * Saj.cu El ween, ee A oe te LP ae 296 
PO RERAMS Oeee me, | = 8 te ee oe es See Mes ee a ees ee 299 
Paw IGCRNOES: ==. 2 5262 25> eo sae So oe ee oe eae ee 300 
The double-bladed paddle in the New World_--._.-.-.---------------- 303 
Sisto creo liye tts. em 2 er a i ee oe ee Ee 2 eee ie 308 
ILLUSTRATIONS 
PLATES 
eof D Ls ESSE] OF SY Capa ee pee aa A ek Se eee re eget Ee 312 
Zi. Tule balsa from, Santa. Barbara Channel... -.--...22.=.-.<3.225 312 
2eeeAebark-lop ratt or baja, Califormia--_ 12-222... 22o=---22 2. cease He sa 312 
23. Balsa and double-bladed paddle in San Francisco Bay --.----------- 312 
FIGURES 
11. Upper: Chumash paddle collected by Vancouver Expedition, 1793. 
Lower: Colnett’s sketch of a Coast Miwok balsa and paddle seen at 
IBoderaubBay lah oe bet So ee ee 292 
jou bhe,chumuash plank Canoe... 2245-0. ses ee see ee eee 301 
MAPS 
5. Distribution of boat and paddle types along the coasts of Upper and 
ajan© alongs. ©) ee i see Le oe 2 oe ee ee eee ae 290 
6. Distribution of boat types in the Santa Barbara Channel and adjoining 
PORIONS Fg oe St ee eee eee ee ee eee 294 
7. Distribution of the double-bladed paddle in the New World-_-------- 305 


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ABORIGINAL NAVIGATION OFF THE COASTS OF UPPER 
AND BAJA CALIFORNIA 


By Rosert F. Heizer and Wiii1am C. Massry 


INTRODUCTION 


There is no adequate summary of aboriginal navigation off the 
west-central coast of North America. Friederici’s (1907) general 
treatment of native navigation in the New World is still the best 
we have, but for the California region this work does not satisfy the 
requirements of intensive treatment. Kroeber’s summary of aboriginal 
navigation in Upper California (lat. 33° N. to 42° N.) is good, but 
is based mainly upon ethnographic information, and for certain 
critical areas can be amended or added to in detail by the early 
historical accounts (Kroeber, 1925, pp. 248-244, 812-814, passim). 

The Pacific coast, from the Oregon-California boundary! to the 
southern tip of Lower California is a stretch of about 1,600 miles, and 
embraces some nineteen degrees of latitude. Environmentally this 
long coastal area may be divided into separate provinces. In the 
north from the Oregon-California boundary to the mouth of the 
Russian River is a rainy coast where conifer forests come down to the 
water’s edge, and with turbulent rivers which meet the rocky coast. 
Here is an ideal habitat for the heavy log dugouts, or for log rafts. 
From Bodega Bay southward to Point Concepcion is a relatively 
treeless coast, somewhat rocky, but with several large and numerous 
small sandy bays. Wood is scarce, and the tule balsa is the sole 
means of navigation for inshore water travel. The coast dwellers 
occasionally used balsas to fish in the quiet waters of some bay; never 
to make long expeditions where walking would be quicker, safer, 
shorter, and on the whole easier. 

Between Point Concepcion and Santa Monica Bay is the sheltered 
Santa Barbara Channel which harbored the maritime Chumash 
peoples. Driftwood logs, a well-developed woodworking complex, 
and sheltered waters seem to have favored the development here 
of the multiplank boat. 

1 For the coastal area north of the Oregon-California boundary, see the excellent paper on northwestern 
canoes by Olson (1927). 
289 


290 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Buun, 151 


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Map 5.—Distribution of boat and paddle types along the coasts of Upper and 
Baja California. 


From San Diego south along the entire west coast of Baja Cali- 
fornia is a low-latitude desert littoral where available softwood is 
absent (with two exceptions to be noted below). Wooden boats 
would be an impossibility, and the balsa made of easily gathered 
tules (Scirpus sp.) is generally employed. Great stands of cedars 
at Cedros Island and pines at Cape San Lucas offered variety in 
materials for boats, and here we find log rafts, but not dugouts. 

Inside the Gulf of California along the east shore of the peninsula 
is again a treeless coast, somewhat broken by small bays, and offshore 
islands. Here, as on the ocean side, the balsa was used for navigation. 

With the partial exceptions of the Chumash of the Santa Barbara 


AotuRVT PAP. ABORIGINAL NAVIGATION—HEIZER AND MASSEY 291 


Channel, who were accustomed to fish in deep waters in their sea- 
going plank canoes, and the Pericue of Cape San Lucas, who went 
out of sight of land on fishing expeditions, the coastal tribes of Upper 
and Baja California could hardly be called maritime. Boats, whether 
dugouts, balsas, or rafts, seem incidental and generally nonessential 
cultural features of the whole area. 

The differences in coastal topography are not very profound, yet 
sufficiently so that local environments favored the use of particular 
types of boats. These boat types are few and may be enumerated 
as follows: 

(1) Tule balsas. 

(2) Log dugouts. 

(3) Log rafts. 

(4) Plank canoes. 

TULE BALSAS 


In the whole coastal area under discussion, the tule balsa has the 
most extensive distribution of any single type of boat. Interruptions 
in the distribution are due to either unfavorable environmental con- 
ditions or the use of other types of boats. Nonoccurrence cannot 
be explained by the absence of materials (Scirpus sp.). 

The northernmost coastal occurrence of the tule balsa is Bodega 
Bay (lat. 38°30’), where its presence is attested by a number of early 
explorers (Wagner, 1931, p. 331; Maurelle, 1781, p. 515; Corney, 
1896, p. 81; Colnett, 1940, p. 175; Bolton, 1926, IV, p. 48; Khlebni- 
kov, 1940, p. 333). It was propelled by means of a double-bladed 
paddle. (The balsa and paddle are illustrated here, after Colnett 
(1940, pl. opp. p. 176) in fig. 11). Bodega Bay also marks the northern- 
most occurrence of this paddle type (Colnett, 1940, p. 175). Colnett 
said of the Bodega (Coast Miwok) Indians in 1791: 

Their rush floats are form’d in the following manner, three Bundles making 
the Bottom, and one on each side, Bow and Stern. Their Paddle is pointed at 
each end, held by the middle and used alternately, side and side, and End and 
End. 

The tule balsa and double-bladed paddle were noted at Drake’s Bay 
by Cermefio in 1595 (Wagner, 1924, p. 13). The balsa is known 
much farther north in the interior. The Thompson Indians of 
British Columbia used this boat as did the Klamath and some north- 
central California tribes. 

The Costanoan Indians living on the shores of San Francisco Bay 
used only the balsa for navigating. The double-bladed paddle 
was also in use on the Bay (Menzies, 1924, p. 271; Khlebnikov, 1940, 
p. 333; Kotzebue, 1830, vol. 2, p. 90; Chamisso in Kotzebue, 1821, 
vol. 3, p. 48; Choris, 1822, pt. 3, p. 6; Bolton, 1927, p. 293; Von 


292 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Butt 151 


Figure 11.—Upper: Chumash paddle collected by Vancouver Expedition, 1793. 
Lower: Colnett’s sketch of a Coast Miwok balsa and paddle seen at Bodega 
Bay, 1791. 


Langsdorff, 1814, pp. 187-188). Menzies describes the balsa as 
follows: 


As we were going on shore in the forenoon two of the natives came along side 
in their Canoe if a few bundles of bulrushes fastend together could be called by 
that name, for it was about fourteen feet long and consisted of three or four 
bunches of bulrushes fastend together with thongs and tapering at both extremi- 
ties; on this the two Men sat, each having a long paddle with a blade at each 
end which was held by the middle and used on both sides alternately... [Men- 
zies, 1924, p. 271.] 


No 39). .)6 ABORIGINAL NAVIGATION—-HEIZER AND MASSEY 293 


Vancouver notes the balsa at San Francisco as follows: 


A message... was brought by three of the native Indians who spoke Spanish, 
and who came on board in a canoe of the country; which with another (though 
perhaps the same) seen crossing the harbour the evening we entered it, were the 
only Indian vessels we had met with, and were without exception the most rude 
and sorry contrivances for embarkation I had ever beheld. The length of them 
was about ten feet, the breadth about three or four; they were constructed of 
rushes and dried grass of a long, broad leaf, made up into rolls the length of the 
canoe, the thickest in the middle, and regularly tapering to a point at each end... 
They crossed the inlet for the purpose of catching fish... They conducted their 
canoe or vessel by long double-bladed paddles, like those used by the Esquimaux. 
[Vancouver, 1798, vol. 2, p. 90.] 

Southward of San Francisco the balsa made of three or more 
bundles of tule lashed together was employed sporadically by Cos- 
tanoans (Fages, 1937, p. 69; de Laperouse, 1798, vol. 2, p. 228; Van- 
couver, 1798, vol. 2, p. 5). This boat was used by the Indians of 
Monterey Bay for fishing. Here, as farther north, the double-bladed 
paddle was used for propulsion (Kroeber, 1925, p. 468; Costanso, 
1910, p. 155; Vancouver, 1798, vol. 2, p. 5; von Langsdorff, 1814, vol. 
2, pp. 187-188). South of Monterey to Point Concepcion the balsa 
was used in bays and protected coastal waters. In 1595 Cermefio 
mentioned use of balsas in San Luis Obispo (Wagner, 1924, p. 16). 
Shortly after the founding of Mission San Luis Obispo in 1772, the 
Santa Barbara Channel plank boat was imported for use by the Mis- 
sion Indians at San Luis Obispo (Heizer, 1941; Wagner, 1924, pp. 6-7). 
Vizcaino in 1602 mentioned seeing balsas on the coast occupied by 
the Salinan Indians (Wagner, 1929, pp. 240, 242). 

Although the balsa was probably known and perhaps occasionally 
used by the Chumash of the Santa Barbara region, it can hardly be 
considered the typical boat of this area. The balsa was not seen or 
noted by the Spanish explorers on the Santa Barbara Channel in 
the eighteenth century. Harrington (1942, section on ‘‘Navigation’’) 
implies that the balsa is an aboriginal Barbarefio Chumash feature, 
but on what grounds is not stated by him or known to us. A de- 
tailed account of a well-made, bitumen-covered balsa from the Santa 
Barbara Chumash was printed in 1894, and though the author is 
unknown it was probably Lorenzo Yates (Anonymous, 1894). The 
account reads as follows: 

Tules were firmly and closely tied with fiber taken from different plants and 
tarred with asphaltum into bundles about four inches in diameter in the center 
and tapering to a point at both ends, and of the length of the intended boat. 

Pliant sticks, which were intended to act as the ribs of the boat, were shoved 
through the bundles at intervals in the manner indicated in Figs. 1 and 2 [pl. 21 
of this publication.] After a sufficient number of bundles of tules and pliant sticks 


were placed together, they were bent and secured in the form of the main body 
of the boat. The bow and stern of the boat were then made in the form and 


294 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 151 


any 
UP AAT TUN 


nit Plank canoe 
xxx Dugovt canoe 
coo Tule balsa 


ONSZSINT 7 


Map 6.—Distribution of boat types in the Santa Barbara Channel and adjoining 
regions. 


manner shown in Figs. 1 and 3. The tules were then quilted with tarred fiber 
until they were firm and watertight, BBB in Figs. 1 and 3. The bent position of 
the ribs was maintained by seats. Further rigidity was given to the boat, if 
necessary, by fastening poles lengthways of the boat to the ribs. The outside of 
the boat was then smeared with liquid asphalt of the consistency of heavy tar, 
AA, Fig. 3. 


This account can hardly be purely imaginative, yet there is nothing 
similar known concerning tarred balsas. The general method of 
manufacture is Californian, however, and it may be that this par- 
ticular form of boat is a late historic development which combined 
certain features of the old plank-boat complex grafted on the balsa 
boat. 

The Gabrielefio to the south also knew the balsa (Fages, 1937, 
p. 23), but they shared the plank boat with the Chumash. The 
Luisefio next to the south, used both the balsa and the dugout canoe 
(Kroeber, 1925, p. 654). The paddle type is not known, although 
the double-bladed form, in view of its occurrence to the north and 


NO g9)) Y)~6 ABORIGINAL NAVIGATION—HEIZER AND MASSEY 295 


south, was almost certainly used. The coastal Dieguefio knew only 
the tule balsa and double-bladed paddle (Menzies, 1924, p. 340; 
Costanso, 1910, p. 123). 

Cabrillo’s reference to ‘‘small canoes” near Punta Banda in latitude 
31°50’ (Cabrillo in Bolton, 1916, p. 21; Cabrillo in Wagner, 1929, 
p. 84) probably indicates the presence there of tule balsas, which 
may be ascribable to the coastal Dieguefio of the peninsula (Vizcaino 
in Bolton, 1916, p. 73). Taylor (1860) reports that in 1856 a native 
at San Miguel Mission described balsas of reed formerly used for 
fishing in northwestern Baja California. At San Quentin Bay, 
Vizcaino saw tule balsas, and immediately to the north, at San 
Martin Island, Cermefio encountered Indians in boats, probably 
tule balsas (Cermefio in Wagner, 1929, p. 16). Vancouver, when 
off Rosario Bay just south of San Quentin saw ‘“‘a native in a straw 
canoe like those seen at San Francisco” (Vancouver, 1798, vol. 2, 
p. 482). 

Sales’ account contains a careful description of the balsa referring 
to the Dominican mission region north of Rosario: 

The Indians make some very small canoes; among some tribes they are of 
wood, in others they are of that reed (bova) which grows in the swamps. Only 
Indians who fear nothing are able to put to sea in boats of such slight resistance. 
They collect the stalks and stems of this reed, they tie and bind them with long 
twigs, and continue giving it the shape of a small boat that is only able to carry 
one man, and when he has to enter the sea he puts it over his head and lets it 
fall, quickly putting himself aboard on his knees. [Sales, 1794, vol. 1, p. 29.] 

On Cedros Island log rafts were in use (Ulloa in Wagner, 1929, 
p. 40) but there is no mention of their occurrence on the opposite 
mainland. Martinez,states that from Cape San Lucas to SanIgnacio 
(lat. 23° to 27°) the Indians “got around in a sort of raft in the shape 
of a small boat, made of canes or rushes. With this rudimentary 
craft they will put out to sea until they are lost to sight for many 
hours, one man in each, with a double-paddle, which they manipulate 
on both sides, half kneeling, or squatting’? (Martinez, 1938, p. 15). 
Taraval (1931, p. 51) notes balsas at Todos Santos. Inside Magdalena 
Bay (lat. 24°18’) Ulloa (specifically at Almejas Bay: Ulloa in Wagner, 
1929, p. 31) saw “‘very large rafts of cane,’’ probably to be under- 
stood as large tule balsas. As shown elsewhere, the log raft was used 
at Cape San Lucas. From Cape San Lucas northward to La Paz Bay 
inside the Gulf of California bark-log rafts were in use. Just south 
of La Paz at a bay, which in 1633 Francisco de Ortega called San 
Ignacio de Loyola, were seen Indians with small balsas (balsillos), 
and Taraval notes balsas in 1735 at Cerralvo Island in the same region 
(Ortega, 1633, p. 161; Taraval, 1931, pp. 74-75, 276). 


909871—52- 20 


296 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLn, 151 


North of La Paz among the Cochimi the balsa and double-bladed 
paddle continued in use on the coast. Ulloa has left a careful de- 
scription of the Cochimi balsa at lat. 29°48’: 

They had a little raft which they must have used in fishing. It was made of 
canes tied in three bundles, each part tied separately, and then all tied together, 
the middle section being larger than the laterals. They rowed it with a slender 
oar, little more than half a fathom long, and two small paddles, badly made, 
one at eachend. [Ulloa in Wagner, 1929, p. 22—at Bahia de San Luis Gonzaga. ] 

On the coast near Loreto, Vizcaino noted in 1596, ‘‘five canoes like 
balsas very well made with canes and strong, came out from the 
shore. In each were three or four Indians” (Vizcaino in Wagner, 
1930, p. 211). 

At Espiritu Santo Island, outside La Paz, Ortega in 1631 said that 
“many Indians came out to the ship in their (tule) balsas’ (Ortega, 
1631, p. 75). 

North of the Cochimi people and inside the Gulf live the Peninsular 
Kiliwa and Akwa’ala whose culture is oriented toward the interior 
rather than seaward. It is probable that here the tule balsa was 
used when occasion demanded, but no definite evidence can be 
produced to support this possibility. The Cocopa were accustomed 
to use the tule balsa (Derby, 1932, p. 58), as were other tribes of the 
lower Colorado River. 

On the west coast: of Mexico south of the Colorado River delta 
the balsa is sporadically present. The Seri of the Sonora coast and 
Tiburon Island use both the tule balsa and double-bladed paddle 
(McGee, 1898; Kroeber, 1931, pp. 20-41; Davis and Dawson, 1945, 
pp. 196-197, fig. 5). The single occurrence of this paddle type on the 
Mexican mainland leads to the conclusion that the Seri learned of 
navigation, at least in part, from the peninsular tribes across the 
waters of the Gulf of California. 


DUGOUT CANOES 


On the northwestern California coast the dugout is the only means 
of navigation. It is a country of rivers, and the boats are used for 
both ocean and river travel. The ‘Yurok type’ canoe used by the 
littoral Tolowa, Yurok, and Wiyot, is essentially suited to river 
travel because of its blunt, rounded prow and round, gently curved 
belly, and not to the sea and surf where a high-ended, keeled, and 
sharp-prowed type would be more practicable. It is clear that the 
dugout here has developed on the interior rivers, and later came out 
to the ocean. 

The canoe is made of soft, straight-grained redwood. The exca- 
vation is done by controlled firing and shaping with a shell-bladed 
adz attached to a stone handle. The bow and stern rise only a foot 


No 39). Y)6 ABORIGINAL NAVIGATION—HEIZER AND MASSEY 297 


above the level of the gunwales, which are wide and overhanging in- 
ward rather than flaring outside to prevent wash. The wide gun- 
wales serve as longitudinal strengtheners. Inside the boat is a stern 
seat and in front of the seat are two foot braces. 

The Yurok dugout has, according to Kroeber (1925, pp. 82-83) 
a standard length of 3 fathoms and a hand (18 feet), but varies con- 
siderably in breadth (3 to 4 feet) and depth (1 to 2 feet), which has 
the effect of increasing capacity, but not at the expense of maneuver- 
ability on the rocky river where the length of the boat is an important 
feature. The draft is shallow and the canoe rarely draws more than 
6 inches in the middle when loaded. A shallow-draft canoe is suited 
to the rocky river rather than to the ocean, and is a further indication 
of the interior riverine development of this type. 

The Yurok of Trinidad Bay on the northern California coast were 
early discovered by the Spanish, and from Fr. Benito de la Sierra’s 
account of the Hezeta expedition of 1775 we have a description of 
the canoes which are said to have been at most 4 yards in length, 
well built, double-ended, and made of a single log. The stem and 
stern are stated to have been ‘‘half-decked,” but the phrase is puzzling 
since the later boats here do not show any feature of this sort (de 
la Sierra, 1930, p. 222). Peter Corney (1896) described the Trinidad 
Bay canoes in 1817 as from 16 to 20 feet long, square at both ends, 
and flat-bottomed. Inside the boat were ridges, spaced about a foot 
apart, which looked exactly like frames or ribs of a boat and which 
served to strengthen the canoe. This last feature is not reported by 
other observers, and may possibly represent an effort in historic times 
to copy the frame feature of European boats. 

South of the Wiyot, who use the same canoe as the Yurok and To- 
lowa to the north, the dugout is not employed. Kroeber (1925, p. 
147) places Cape Mendocino as the southern limit of the dugout, 
which is a local and peripheral manifestation of the British Columbian 
and Alaskan coastal dugout-canoe area. (See Olson, 1927, and Bar- 
nett, 1937, p. 170.) The Mattole and Coast Yuki used no boats 
whatever on the coast. The Pomo used tule balsas on Clear Lake in 
the interior, but this form did not reach the coast in their territory. 
Occasionally the Pomo might use a makeshift log raft to visit mussel 
and sea lion rocks offshore (Kroeber, 1925, p. 243; Gifford and Kroe- 
ber, 1937, El. No. 258; Loeb, 1926, p. 182) but this temporary raft 
was hardly a standard feature of coastal Pomo culture. 

Just south of the Pomo are the Coast Miwok of Bodega and To- 
males Bay who, as we have already seen, used the tule balsa in their 
salt-water fishing. It is not until we reach the Luisefio of southern 
California that the aboriginal dugout canoe again is found (Sparkman, 
1908, p. 200; Kroeber, 1925, p. 653). Here it exists side by side with 


298 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Buy. 151 


the tule balsa, but the plank canoe did not diffuse from their northern 
neighbors, the Gabrielefio. Incidentally the Luisefio called the dug- 
out pauhit, “yellow pine” (Kroeber, 1925, p. 654), and the Chumash 
call their plank canoe tomolo, ‘‘pine’”’ (Heizer, 1941, pp. 60-61). 
This peculiar canoe-pine linguistic parallel can hardly be fortuitous, 
and leads one to suspect some specific connection between the Luisefio 
dugout and the Chumash plank canoe. ‘This possibility is enhanced 
by the fact that for a long distance north of the Chumash and south of 
the Luisefio wooden canoes of any kind are unknown. How the de- 
velopment of these types occurred is impossible to say, nor is it easy 
to imagine what relationships the two boat forms have, since their 
occurrences are geographically exclusive and they are technologically 
distinct. 

J. P. Harrington (1942, section on ‘‘Navigation’’) gives the late 
ethnographic (i.e., historic) occurrence of boat types in the Santa 
Barbara region as follows: 


N. Cost- S. Cost- 4 

Saiparie Sanatic Barbarefio | Venturefio | Gabrielefio 
MuUrouticanOGess eee nn sore Sa ee eters ee a| eee eee x x x 
Plank cangos 2288 seh e See ee oe ee ed ae ee x x x 
Piuletbalsas ee: = 2 vee aoe te ne x x x x x 
Double-bladed paddlet vise! se. 20: 5S. be 8s Gk eee Pee Xx x x 


We may be certain that the dugout was not used in early historic 
times (sixteenth to eighteenth centuries) in the Channel region, and 
it is not until the midnineteenth century that we find the first mention 
of the dugout in the Santa Barbara region in a newspaper account 
reproduced in Alexander Taylor’s Indianology, where it is stated, 

They made canoes by digging out a solid trunk to contain four or five men, 
which were of remarkably neat model and handsomely bevelled, rounded off in- 
side and out with hatchets made of stone, and scrapers and knives formed of shells. 
They were about thirty feet long and three or four deep and wide. The stern and 
bow were shaped alike, with a deep channel or groove for the anchor-rope to run 


through . . . these ropes were made from the fiber of the California wild maguey. 
[Woodward, 1934, pp. 120-121; Taylor, 1860.] 


Thus, the Channel Barbarefio and Venturefio seem to have used 
the dugout only in the past century. It was introduced either through 
the Spanish,” or from the Luisefio to the south. The Gabrielefio 
shared the plank boat with their Chumash neighbors to the north, 
but placed some reliance at least upon the tule balsa. There is no 
evidence, other than Harrington’s check list, that the Gabrielefio used 


the dugout and we may suspect its late introduction here as among 
the Chumash. 


3 For which there is no direct evidence, but must be considered a possibility. Note the historic intro- 
duction, by U.S. Army soldiers, of the dugout to the Pomo of Clear Lake (Gifford and Kroeber, 1937, p. 185). 


No), |“ ABORIGINAL NAVIGATION—HEIZER AND MASSEY 299 


LOG RAFTS 


Log rafts, although rarely used, are hardly to be considered as a 
typical or characteristic means of navigation on the coast of Upper 
California. Gifford and Kroeber (1937, p. 145) list a raft of logs lashed 
together with withes for the northwestern and southwestern Pomo 
(Loeb, 1926, p. 182; Kroeber, 1925, p. 243). It was used by the people 
to visit offshore mussel-bearing rocks. Farther north the Sinkyone 
and Tolowa, whose territories front the ocean, claim to use the log 
raft, but whether this was for interior river or coastal lagoon service 
is unknown (Driver, 1939, section on ‘‘Navigation’’). As with the 
dugout canoe in northwestern California, the log raft is more widely 
used in the interior, and its presence on the coast must be looked 
upon as due to spread from the hinterland. 

Logs were used in Baja California on Cedros Island (lat. 28°15’) 
where cedar trees are common in the mountainous interior, near 
Cape San Lucas to the north of which pines grow on the slopes of 
the Sierra de la Victoria, and in the Bay of La Paz inside the Gulf 
of California north of Cape San Lucas. Boats constructed of logs 
were rafts and nowhere was the dugout used. 

Ulloa, who visited Cedros Island in 1539, has left the following de- 
scription of the raft seen at Morro Redondo (lat. 28°27’): 

They had five or six rafts which they had used in fishing, made of pine or cedar 

timbers, as long as 12 or 15 feet and so big that a man could hardly reach around 
them. The part under water is rounded, and where the people stand on them 
is flat. They are not hollow in any part. On each side, to maintain the balance, 
there are bundles of many cedar poles, closely tied together, as long as the canoes 
themselves. They rowed them with paddles two or three palms long and about 
three fingers across, at the end of each a three-cornered triangular piece of wood 
of this shape [arrowhead] five or six fingers from point to point. [Ulloa in Wagner, 
1925, p. 52.] 
This log raft appears to have been made of a single split cedar log 
stabilized by bundles of cedar poles lashed on each side. This is 
certainly a unique boat type for the Californias. Although the use 
of stabilizers is known in Oceania and Colombia (Hornell, 1928), we 
would draw no connection between these and the Baja Californian 
occurrence. 

At La Paz Bay and probably referring to the Guaicura (though 
possibly to the Pericu islanders of Espiritu Santo), Cardona in 1617 
sald— 

Their vessels are of three bundles of thin canes, two at the sides and one in 
the middle, very well tied in such a way that two persons travel on each of them. 
They also have another class of vessel which is of three logs fastened together. 
On each an Indian goes out to fish. They row with both hands, with an oar 
with two blades. [Cardona, 1868, p. 35.] 


300 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bun 151 


In the south near Cape San Lucas rafts described as “bark-logs”’ 
were used. ‘These were apparently made of Ceiba (cork) logs, although 
the local pine may have also served for this purpose. Pines grow 
in the interior at high elevations, and it is not known whether the 
Indians could carry them down to the sea (Rogers, 1928, p. 231; 
Baegert, 1772, pt. 2, sect.4). They were propelled with the double- 
bladed paddle and served the natives in fishing (Rogers, 1928, p. 
231; Shelvocke, 1928, p. 226; Clavigero, 1937, p. 100). Shelvocke 
(1928, p. 226) describes the log raft as follows: 

... they go out to sea on their bark-logs, which are only composed of five logs 


of a light wood, made fast to one another by wooden pegs; on these they venture 
out rowing with a double paddle. 


An earlier description by Clavigero reads— 


In order to fish on the high sea in this second way they use a simple raft com- 
posed of three, five, or seven logs fastened together with sticks and well tied; 
the log in the middle, which extends farther because of being longer, serves as a 
prow. The wood from which these rafts are made is cork (a tree already de- 
scribed by us), because it is lightest. On each of them, according to their size, 
2 or 3 men take their places and depart 4 or 5 miles from the coast, without fear 
of the very high waves of the Pacific Sea, which at times, seem to lift them as 
far as the clouds and at times to bury them in the bottom of the sea. [Clavigero, 
1937, p. 100.] 


Clavigero refers again (op. cit., p. 50) to the ‘“‘Corcho” from which 
the Indians make rafts. This is to be identified with the Ceiba 
acuminata. 

The combination of a raft and the double-bladed paddle presents 
such a degree of discordance as to lead to the conclusion that the 
raft in this region was possibly a recent introduction to a people 
who already knew the balsa and double paddle, or that the paddle 
was borrowed from natives in the Gulf where it is the common means 


of propulsion. 
PLANK CANOES 


In the whole coastal area from the California-Oregon boundary 
to the southern tip of Baja California is a single small littoral strip 
where multiplank canoes were used. This restricted area is the 
Santa Barbara Channel, which was occupied in ethnographic times 
by the Chumash Indians. The plank boat was in use on the main- 
land between Point Concepcion (lat. 34°50’N., long. 121°50’ W.) 
and Point Dume (lat. 34° N., long. 119°15’ W.) and on the offshore 
islands of Santa Barbara, Santa Rosa, and San Miguel at the time 
of the early Spanish explorations (1542-1770). The plank boat was 
not used by the Luisefio, Juanefio, or Dieguefio so far as known. The 
relatively sheltered waters of the channel seem to have permitted 
the safe employment of this boat, and to this extent environmental 


No 39). «~ABORIGINAL NAVIGATION—HEIZER AND MASSEY 301 


determinism may be assumed to have operated. North of Point 
Concepcion the rocky unsheltered coast was hardly suitable for em- 
ployment of the fragile plank boat, and there is no evidence of its 
presence in early historic times. Cermefio in 1595 noted the tule 
balsa at San Luis Obispo Bay (lat. 35°20’) some forty-five miles north 
of Point Concepcion (Wagner, 1929, p. 161; 1924, p. 16). But 
in 1775 Pedro Fages mentioned plank canoes in this same bay 
(Fages, 1937, pp. 51-52; see also Wagner, 1929, p. 371), as did Van- 
couver in 1793 (Vancouver, 1798, vol. 2, p.445). This conflict in evi- 
dence would lead one to suspect a local replacement of the original tule 


Figure 12.—The Chumash plank canoe. 


balsa by the plank boatin post-Hispanictimes. Documentary evidence 
for such introduction and substitution is to be found in the statement 
of Fr. Pedro Font in 1776 that their expeditionary force escorted six 
Christian Indians from Mission San Luis Obispo to the Santa Barbara 
Channel where they bought, with glass beads, two plank canoes. 
The Spanish party continued on south, the Obispefio returned to their 
home with the boats (Bolton, 1930, p. 453). The exact date of the 
first transfer to San Luis Obispo Bay of the southern plank boats 
cannot be determined, though it could hardly have been much before 
1772, since Mission San Luis Obispo was founded at that time. The 
boat Vancouver saw was undoubtedly one of the imported Channel 
Chumash canoes. 

The construction and form of the Chumash plank canoe has been 
treated fully in other papers (Woodward, 1934; Heizer, 1938, 1940 b, 
1941; Robinson, 1942; Kroeber, 1925, pp. 558-559), and these points 
need only be summarized here. The average canoe measured about 
25 feet in length (range 12 to 30 feet), 3 to 4 feet in breadth, and about 
3 feet in depth. The foundation of the boat was a heavy flat-bottom 
plank with two end posts bound on with cords through drilled holes. 
Taking off from each side of the base plank at an angle of 50 to 60 
degrees, were longitudinally laid planks, each about 3 feet in length, 
6 inches wide, and a half inch thick. Each short plank was tied on 
all four edges to the adjoining planks by sewing through drilled holes. 
Each course of planking was calked with quantities of asphaltum 
applied when hot and viscous. The canoe had no internal ribs or 
frames, and was strengthened solely by means of a center gunwale 
thwart which also served as a seat. From the descriptions of the 


302 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLu. 151 


boat which have come down to us in historical accounts, one gets 
the impression that the canoe was a rather weak and unstable craft. 
This, however, was not the case—the canoe was of light weight and 
flexible construction, and the weight of the paddlers who kneeled in 
the bottom tended to draw the gunwales together and tighten the 
seams (Heizer, 1940 a). The liberal quantities of asphaltum used 
undoubtedly were helpful in making the boat seaworthy, and it is 
diffcult to imagine the Chumash canoe without this asphaltum which 
was so abundant in their territory. The plank canoe had an unusual 
profile. The planking at the bow and stern was elevated, leaving 
the center gunwales low. The reason for this feature was probably 
to prevent a following wave from coming into the boat when landing 
in the surf. Three or four people at most were all that were observed 
to ride in one of these boats, although early explorers repeatedly 
estimate that the canoes had a potential capacity of 8 or 10, or even 
20. Thus size was a misleading factor to the Spanish observers, 
while the Indians undoubtedly knew from long experience how many 
could safely ride in the plank canoes. The double-bladed paddle 
was used to propel these ocean-going canoes, and they were well made 
with the blades mortised to the handle. The paddle was from 6 
to 10 feet in over-all length. 

Some of the more detailed descriptions by early observers are 
given below—others may be consulted in the special papers on the 
Chumash plank canoe (Heizer, 1938, pp. 194-207; Robinson, 1942, 
pp. 203-209). Miguel Costanso, engineer of the Portola expedition 
of 1769-70, says: 

The expertness and skill of these Indians is unsurpassed in the construction 
of their canoes of pine boards. They are from eight to ten yards in length from 
stem to stern post, and one yard and a half in breadth. No iron whatever enters 
into their construction and they know little of its use. But they fasten the 
boards firmly together, making holes at equal distances apart, one inch from the 
edge, matching each other in the upper and lower boards, and through these 
holes they pass stout thongs of deer sinews. They pitch and calk the seams, and 
paint the whole in bright colors. They handle them with equal skill, and three 
or four men go out to sea to fish in them, as they will hold eight or ten men. 
They use long double-bladed oars, and row with indescribable agility and swift- 


ness... They hold intercourse and commerce with the natives of the islands. 
{[Costanso, 1910, pp. 136-139.] 


Fr. Pedro Font wrote in 1776 of the Chumash plank boat, and 
his description has come down to us as the best single detailed account: 


The Indians are great fishermen and very ingenious. .. Above all, they build 
launches with which they navigate. They are very carefully made of several 
planks which they work with no other tools than their shells and flints. They 
join them at the seams by sewing them with strong thread which they have, 
and fit the joints with pitch, by which they are made very strong and secure. 
Some of the launches are decorated with little shells and all are painted red with 


No 39), =~ ABORIGINAL NAVIGATION—HEIZER AND MASSEY 303 


hematite. In shape they are like a little boat without ribs, ending in two points 
somewhat elevated and arched above, the two arcs not closing but remaining 
open at the points like a V. In the middle there is a somewhat elevated plank 
laid across from side to side to serve as a seat and to preserve the convexity of 
the frame. Each launch is composed of some twenty long and narrow pieces. 
I measured one and found it to be thirty-six palms long (24 to 26 feet) and some- 
what more than three palms high (2 to 3 feet). In each launch, when they navi- 
gate or go to fish, according to what I saw, ordinarily not more than two Indians 
ride in each end. They carry some poles about two varas long which end in 
blades, these being the oars with which they row alternately, putting the ends 
of the poles into the water, now on one side and now on the other side of the launch. 
In this way they guide the launch wherever they wish, sailing through rough 
seas with much boldness. [Bolton, 1930, pp. 252-253.] 


Archibald Menzies, naturalist of the Vancouver expedition, de- 
scribed the Santa Barbara canoes in 1795 as: 


... from 14 to 18 foot long and in the middle about four feet wide and tapering 
to both extremities. They were made of different pieces of wood curiously sewd 
together, their Paddle was about half the length of the Canoe and bladed at 
each end so as to be held by the middle and used alternately on each side... . 
[Menzies, 1924, p. 315.] 


In another place Menzies gives further data on the canoe: 


The make and formation of their Canoe shewd no small degree of ingenuity 
as it is regularly built of different pieces of boards of various sizes and figures 
and neatly fastened together with Thongs and Sinews & glewed so close as to be 
quite water tight and preserves its shape as well as if it had been made of one 
piece, without any other timber to strengthen it but one small thort in the middle, 
from thense it rises gradualy & tapers to both extremities, where it is double 
pointed by a small notch at each end— These Canoes are from 12 to 18 feet in 
length & in the middle about 4 feet wide, they are large enough to carry about 
half a dozen of the Natives in smooth water and are extremely serviceable to 
them for the purpose of fishing in the channel as we had the pleasure to experience 
during our stay by the plentiful supply of Fish they daily brought us— Canoes 
made in this manner are to be met with no where else in California, & the induce- 
ment to form these of such scanty materials might probably originate in a desire 
of visiting & keeping up an intercourse with the adjacent Islands which as the 
sea is smooth and the climate is serene is frequently affected without danger.— 
Their paddle we have already seen is about half the length of the Canoe, bladed 
at both ends & used alternately on each side. [Menzies, 1924, pp. 325-326.] 


THE DOUBLE-BLADED PADDLE IN THE NEW WORLD 


At an earlier time it was felt that the isolated occurrence of the 
double-bladed paddle at San Francisco Bay and the Santa Barbara 
Channel (for long the only recognized California instances) presented 
a problem referable in some manner to the classic Eskimo use of 
this instrument (Kroeber, 1925, p. 559). In the present paper 
we have established the fact that the double-bladed paddle is found 
along the east and west coasts of Baja California, at San Diego, 
Santa Barbara, Monterey Bay, San Francisco Bay, Drake’s Bay, 


304 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLu, 151 


and Bodega Bay. Here is clearly a continuous and unitary distri- 
bution of this instrument. The presence of this type of paddle 
among the Seri of the north Mexican mainland is most easily explained 
as having been adopted from the Peninsular tribes (Cochimi?) who, 
at least with reference to the Seri, form a local center of gravity. 

Birket-Smith (1929, p. 262, table A51) lists the double paddle 
among the following New World Eskimo groups: Northeast Green- 
landers, East Greenlanders, West Greenlanders, Polar Eskimo, 
Labrador, Baffin Island, Iglulik Eskimo, Southampton Island, Cari- 
bou Eskimo, Netsilik Eskimo, Copper Eskimo, Mackenzie Eskimo, 
Point Barrow, Bering Strait region, Pacific Eskimo (Koniag), and 
Aleut. The Chukchi and Koryak on the adjoining coast of north- 
eastern Asia also know this instrument.® 

In South America the double-bladed paddle is known by the 
Agaces Indians of the Rio Paraguay, the Tamoyos on the Rio de 
Janeiro, from northern Chile, and archeologically from Arica (Nor- 
denskiéld, 1931, pp. 88-89, map 22). As Birket-Smith (1929, p. 
174) points out, there is some evidence that European sportsmen 
and African slaves may have introduced the double-bladed paddle 
into certain parts of South America and the southern United States. 
Lothrop (1932, pl. 21, fig. b; pl. 20, figs. a, 6; p. 242) shows that the 
double-bladed paddle was used to propel the seven-plank dalca and 
the sealhide float of Chile.* 

From these data it would appear that the double-bladed paddle 
has had a complicated, and in several instances, a local and inde- 
pendent history of development. The Eskimo block may or may 
not be connected with the Asiatic occurrences, and for a discussion 
of this problem we refer the reader to Birket-Smith (1929, pp. 79, 
174-175). The great gap between the southernmost Eskimo (Koniag) 
and northernmost Californian occurrence (Bodega Bay) of the double- 
bladed paddle seems to be an area which has never known this imple- 
ment. The gap between the southernmost Californian (Cape San 
Lucas) and the nearest South American occurrence (Peru) is again 
so large that we are left with the only possible explanation of the 
California distribution block as historically independent and unrelated 


3 Also in Asia it is recorded for the Yukaghir, Chuvantsi, Kolyma Russians, Kuril, Goldi, Manegir, 
Orochi, Daurians, Olcha, Lamut, Tungu, Manchu, Yakut, Yeneseians, Samoyed, and (?) Zyryans (Birket- 
Smith, 1929, pp. 340-341, table B37.) This paddle form has also been noted from the Danish peat bogs 
(Late Paleolithic?) and from Yemen. In Africait isknown in Cameroon (Birket-Smith, 1929, p.174). Pitt- 
Rivers (1906, p. 206) mentions its occurrence on the Egyptian Upper Nile and in the Sulu Archipelago. 

4 In addition to the illustrations in Lothrop’s paper, we call attention to the double-log raft with lattice 
decking from the Chilean coast shown by Poeppig (1835, vol. 1, pp 304-305, atlas). The Peruvian coast 
sealhide float and double paddle at Iquique Island (latitude 19°50’ 8S.) are noted by Shelvocke. This 
account also contains an excellent description of the Chilotan three-plank dalea. As a further addition 
to Lothrop’s data, see the sixteenth-century drawing of the Peruvian sailing catamaran in Taylor (1932, pl. 
opp. p. 366). 


No 39), -’ ~=ABORIGINAL NAVIGATION—HEIZER AND MASSEY 305 


a. 


Map 7.—Distribution of the double-bladed paddle in the New World. 


1., E. Greenland Eskimo. 2, W. Greenland Eskimo. 3, Labrador Eskimo, 4, Southampton Island 
Eskimo. 6, Iglulik Eskimo. 6, Baffin Island Eskimo. 7, Netsilik Eskimo. 8, Caribou Eskimo. 9, 
Copper Eskimo. 10, Chipewyan. 11, Mackenzie Eskimo. 12, Kutchin. 13, Point Barrow Eskimo. 
14, Bering Strait Eskimo. 15, Nunivak Island Eskimo. 16, Pacific Eskimo (Koniag). 16-A, Tanaina. 
17, Aleut. 18, Coast Miwok (Bodega Bay). 19, Coast Miwok (Drake’s Bay). 20, Costanoan (San 
Francisco Bay). 21, Costanoan (Monterey Bay). 22, Chumash (Sta. Barbara Channel and Islands). 
28, Gabrielefio (Sta. Catalina Island). 24, Dieguefio (San Diego Bay). 95, Baja California tribes (Kiliwa, 
Cochimi, Pericue, etc.). 26, Seri (Tiburon Island). 27, Peruvian Coast. 28, Arica (archeological 
occurrence). 29, Agaces (Rio Paraguay). 30, Tamoyos (Rio de Janiero). $1, Chilean coast. 

Sources for map occurrences: 1-14, 16-17, Birket-Smith, 1929; 15, Margaret Lantis, information; 16-A, 
Osgood, 1937; 18-26, from data enclosed in this paper; 28-80, Nordenskidld, 1931; 81, Lothrop, 1932. 


306 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLy. 151 


to other New World areas of use of this paddle form. How and where, 
then, did the California double-bladed paddle originate? 

The distribution maps of this paper indicate that the double- 
bladed paddle has a wider distribution than either the log raft, dugout, 
or plank canoe, and approximates most closely the distribution of 
the balsa. Apparently the double paddle is old—perhaps as old 
as the balsa on the coast, and almost certainly older than the log raft 
(of Baja California), the dugout (Luisefio), or plank canoe (Santa 
Barbara Channel). For all practical purposes, we can only decide 
that the balsa and double paddle are the oldest boat and paddle forms 
on the coast south of Bodega Bay, and that the other types of boats 
(dugout, log raft, plank canoe) are later developments which have 
simply adopted the preexistent paddle type. To some extent the 
double paddle must have had an effect upon the form of these later 
boats, for it is of necessity that only a narrow boat can be propelled 
with such a paddle. The problem of the age of the northern Cali- 
fornia dugout is referable to that of the antiquity and spread of 
dugout boats on the Northwest Coast proper. 

Kroeber seems to have hit upon the probable manner of origin 
of the double-bladed paddle, and it is to be noted that he was, at 
the time he wrote, unacquainted with its fuller Californian distribu- 
tion which has been established here. Kroeber says, in discussing 
the double-bladed paddle of the Seri: 


This type of paddle is established for the Seri, Santa Barbara islanders, the 
San Francisco Bay Indians, then apparently is lacking until the Eskimo-Aleutian 
area. Among the Chumash it is native and associated with the plank-built 
canoe. On San Francisco Bay it was used with the rush balsa, and may or may 
not be due to Aleutian sea-otter hunters introduced by the Russians.5 It seems 
possible that the Seri and Chumash occurrences would prove connected by 
occasional use in Baja California if we had fuller data, since some of the natives 
there went several leagues out into the open sea. We are so accustomed to 
think of the two-bladed paddle as an adjunct of the specialized kayak, that it 
too impresses as a complicated device, inappropriate with a simple raft. As 
a matter of fact, wherever scarcity of wood, or lack of skill and usage in working 
it resulted in a paddle blade being cut separately from the shaft, the inventive 
step from attaching one blade to attaching two blades would have been insig- 
nificant—in fact, would be an improvement or variation rather than an invention.® 
The determining factor as to its adoption would probably be the type of naviga- 
tion as set by water conditions. This is borne out by the distribution of the double 
paddle, which clings to areas of open salt-water navigation or large bays approxi- 


5 The double paddle is attested for the San Francisco Bay Costanoans long before the Russians began 
their penetration into California. 

6 This is no doubt true, but as we have shown in this paper, many of the California double paddles were 
made by simply flattening each end ofa pole. (See pl. 20.) The single-piece paddle with narrow blades 
is presumably a rude imitation of the better-finished composite form of, for example, the Chumash (pl. 21). 
Not all Chumash paddles were so well made. (See the illustration of a paddle blade in Robinson, 1942, 
fig. 21.) The Pomo, according to Gifford and Kroeber, (1937, p. 185, ftn. 526), made single-bladed paddles 
with a detachable blade. 


ANTHROP. PAP. ABORIGINAL NAVIGATION—HEIZER AND MASSEY 307 


mating open water conditions. On rivers and lakes the double paddle would 
rarely help and often be in the way. In this way the varying association with 
skin boat, wooden boat, and raft boat seems accounted for. Another factor must 
be the size of the vessel navigated. A broad or high canoe would scarcely allow 
of alternate paddling on both sides. This may be the cause of the absence of 
the implement on the Northwest Coast. Whether the Arctic and the California- 
Seri occurrences are to be historically connected, must probably be left an open 
question for the present. An answer in favor of connection will evidently depend 
on the establishment of sufficient other connections to set up a favorable presump- 
tion. Until then, the considerations just mentioned make the possibility of 
independent origin equally plausible. [Kroeber, 1931, pp. 20—21.] 

The question of where the Californian double-bladed paddle 
originated is more difficult to answer. As Kroeber indicates, it is 
not used in the interior on rivers or lakes, and seems to have spread 
solely along the coast via the open coastal salt-water line of contacts. 
The balsa extends in the interior as far as the peripheral Thompson 
and Klamath (Wilkes, 1844, vol. 5, p. 253), but south of here is found 
in ever increasing use. On the coast it terminates in the north at 
Bodega Bay. There is, from these facts, presumptive evidence 
that the balsa has spread northward with its means of propulsion, 
the double paddle. Where in the south should we look for the 
place of origin of this paddle? Hardly to Baja California among 
the culturally and manually backward groups. This leaves us with 
the Santa Barbara Channel region among the Chumash, accomplished 
and dexterous woodworkers and authors of a technologically advanced 
civilization. Although acceptance of this theory of a Channel origin 
of the double-bladed paddle necessitates adherence to the additional 
hypothesis of a subsequent northward and southward coastal diffusion, 
this latter seems not improbable, since intergroup contacts along the 
coast have probably always existed. This suggestion begs the ques- 
tion of how the double paddle became associated with the balsa, and 
the history of both types subsequent to their adhesion. 

For the history of the double-bladed paddle in the New Worldwe 
offer the following suggestions. The Californian coastal occurrences 
may be considered an historical unit, with a possible locus of origin 
among the Chumash of the Santa Barbara Channel at a time before 
the development of the plank canoe. The presence in California 
of this paddle form is historically independent of that of the Eskimo 
unit far to the north, and of the South American occurrences far to 
the south. Thus, on the basis of the New World data alone, there 
is presumptive evidence that the double paddle has had at least three 
separate and independent developments. Offhand, the several 
widely separated South American occurrences may indicate plural 
origins there, and the Old World examples, some isolated and remote, 
may be considered other evidence, if such be needed, that Kroeber’s 
suggestions of the technological ease of the invention of this paddle 


308 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLn. 151 


form may be accepted. Theoretically within the Californian coast 
area there may have been plural origins, although the continuous 
geographical distribution of the form among relatively simple and 
uninventive groups could hardly be considered strong support for 


such an hypothesis. R. F. H. 


May 1952 
NOTE 


Since this paper was written 10 years ago, some new information on boats of 
the pacific coast has become available. In particular there should be mentioned 
the excellent summary of Mayan and Mexican canoes and navigation by J. E. S. 
Thompson (1951) which effectively closes the last major gap in a series of syn- 
theses of aboriginal navigation from Tierra del Fuego to Bering Strait. It should 
now be easy to discuss Pacific coast navigation as a unit from the historical point 
of view. 

The monumental handbook of South American Indians unfortunately lacks a 
summary of boats, though the several regional survey volumes contain the essen- 
tial data. A recent work by Castillejo (1951) on Arawak and Carib boats is 
useful. 

The Baegert account of Baja California has recently been translated by 
M. Brandenburg and C. Baumann and published by the University of Cali- 
fornia Press (1952). 

ROB. se 
May 1952 
BIBLIOGRAPHY 
ANONYMOUS. 
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BarRNeETT, H. G. 

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BirKET-SmiTH, K. 

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CiavicERO, F. J. 
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BULLETIN 151 


BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 


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SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 
Bureau of American Ethnology 
Bulletin 151 


Anthropological Papers, No. 40 


Exploration of an Adena Mound at Natrium, West Virginia 


By RALPH S. SOLECKI 


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CONTENTS 


PAGE 
introduction’ 5. 222222 a ee ee ee ee ge hs rt BE pee ie 317 
PEPINOUNE = 28 252 Soe sak eo eee Be, lo ae opeetee ak 318 
HeRMOUNGexXCaVAtlON = ess eee eee a eee 320 
Progress-of the mound excavatione i294. 225 8 Le eee aes 322 
PRiehmounGdwteatuTesa Aas se! wee eee ee ee eae ee eae eee 332 
AMAETOCITC DLO MA es a eee eae ee ees Ne ee 332 
PADD SS CTSA TD Gil Tage ee ee ee er ee ee ee ee 332 
SUDLLI GEA? Lalas at tee en eae he eat en ceil Peep eh ihe les tals Mishka» oh 349 
OARS CHE GUE Ge ee eee ee ee ee ee a ee en ae es 353 
lintrOCucChlOMaa cis Bee it aes Se en he eee 2 ee See eee = eee 353 
AGB et MEraiy lshiae eat st Ree cS) Se ea eee eee eee ene 2 354 
TOPES\ Cy sy OTL OV eR 4) A: Wa ¢ UC ©) ea ne ee age ee iE paler eR ae rely Sohal 2 = 356 
ROW SHEGKStONG sea == ee ee a a ee Se 356 
J ESE EEY 1 SY 05 1 nme el adi AA apn lie cpg Ra ae Ee Fw tee 363 
MMO DCUSEOMEL S25 -<rle | ee) De oe oe eee 366 
eran sets. 02 SoG Ue eee en Pee eee 369 
NiscellanecoUst 2 2252 e ye). Sei ee ee See ee ee 371 
Simnnicys OF NG Ar uAGhe = 42 S28) ee ee ea 375 
CS TPA TYR ae 2: ARE gl bE ee ae MR ee eS EL eee 376 
Moerastiute lish Watriuni MOund. —_ 8. ok on ee ee ee ee 376 
PiOuHorattC bUrE traits: 22 .. Ste 2) 2 Be ee Ee eee ee 376 
Pract Grats. MEMS .- eRe eRe EIR. Ue a 377 
NGmEAriiiaehitrabies te et cesee veh Jue py Dae he nets oa Bee See 378 
COTA OES ea ee, ee ae a oe no 2h oe ee See 2 eee eye Samer pee 378 
Appendix 1. 
Analyses of soil samples and mineral materials_--~----.-------------- 382 
Mine ralbinatertaigers so: eee ata ea, Cee 5 eee 386 
Condlusions*Soilsiand minerals 2002 2u2 2 Se). Se. bid 2 eee 389 
Appendix 2. 
Microstructure of copper bead from Natrium Mound_---_------------- 390 
EAN SENG ARTA ED Na a I eh eh a 390 
HG eA MON OL MISLCS 2.20. 220 oo) = ee ae ete eee oS 2 eee 393 


316 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 151 


24. 


25. 
26. 
27. 
28. 
29. 


13. 
14. 
15. 
16. 
17. 
18. 
19. 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

PLATES 

PAGE 
Stages in the exploration of Natrium Mound and representative 

Mound features with associated artifacts...___.___.__.__._-----_---- 396 
Nairiam: Mound artifacts ...222 2 aes 2 ee oe Lo eee 396 
Natrium Moundiartifacts. . -.=Sonen sae oe eee 396 
Natrium Mound artifacts... = = 2s eee ee 396 
Natrium.Mound artifacts. <2. 2.222.222.2525 62. 222.52 oe eee 396 
Microstructure of cross sections of bead__-__...._._._-------------- 396 

FIGURES 
Map showing location of Natrium Mound-_---.__._-_-_---.-------- 320 
Horizontal and vertical plans of Natrium Mound_---__-_-_---_-_-- 321 
Six stages in the mound exeavation.=--. -.25 222500. 323 
Cross section of the western profile of Natrium Mound on line W-1__- 325 
Cross section of the eastern quadrant of Natrium Mound on line N-9__ 328 
The distribution of the mound features=== 222222 eee 333 


The gray-soil and yellow-soil distribution in Natrium Mound-_----_-- 384 


EXPLORATION OF AN ADENA MOUND AT NATRIUM, 
WEST VIRGINIA 


By RaupH 8. SoLecki 


INTRODUCTION 


Through the cooperation of the Smithsonian Institution and the 
Pittsburgh Plate Glass Co., one of the few remaining earth mounds 
of the Adena! culture on the Ohio River was excavated at Natrium, 
W. Va., during December 1948 and part of January 1949. The chemi- 
cal company owns the property on which the mound was situated 
(fig. 13). To the writer’s knowledge, only one other tumulus in 
the East—that on the property of the Wheeling Steel Corp. at Beech 
Bottom, W. Va.—has ever been opened with the aid of an industrial 
enterprise. 

Natrium Mound, of medium proportions, was totally explored in 
record time during unseasonal working conditions. It yielded a 
wealth of data pointing to late Adena affiliations. There are a 
number of interesting new artifact traits represented among those 
of the more usual Adena types. Fifty-one features are noted, 
of which 22 were unmistakably burials containing osseous 
material. Presumably many of the other features may have been 
burials also, but all skeletal evidence had disappeared. 

This earthwork had been in danger of destruction at least twice. 
Delf Norona of Moundsville, W. Va., deserves credit for originally 
bringing the attention of the mound’s plight to the Smithsonian 
Institution about 5 years ago. The Pittsburgh Plate Glass Co., 
which had contemplated destroying the mound at that time, subse- 
quently abandoned the plans, only to revive them again 3 years 
later. This time, Joseph H. Essington,? in a letter dated October 
4, 1948, which he wrote to the Bureau of American Ethnology, 
Smithsonian Institution, appraised the situation. He informed Dr. 
Frank H. H. Roberts, Jr., Associate Director of the Bureau, who 


1The Adena culture takes its name from historic ‘‘Adena,’’ near Chillicothe, Ross County, Ohio, the 
pretentious estate of Thomas Worthington, early governor of Ohio. The type mound of what since has 
been called the Adena culture was first examined and reported on that estate in 1901 by William C. Mills 
(Mills, 1902; Shetrone, 1930, pp. 167-168). 

2 Mr. Essington, a civil engineer, was employed during that period by the Columbia Chemical Division of 
the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Co. of New Martinsville, W. Va. 


317 


318 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 151 


carried out the initial necessary steps for the research, that the 
Pittsburgh Plate Glass Co. was willing to cooperate in the mound 
exploration. After some correspondence was exchanged between 
the interested parties, arrangements were made for the removal 
of the mound. Controlled archeological methods were used. The 
writer was authorized to supervise the exploration for the Smithsonian 
Institution. It was stipulated that the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Co. 
would provide four workmen for the labor. Mechanical excavating 
equipment, such as was required, would also be provided. The 
total estimated time in working days for the completion of this 
project was 20 days. It was through the kind efforts of Karl Wolf, 
plant superintendent of the Columbia Chemical Division of the 
chemical company, that these requirements and conveniences were 
met. 

Excavation was started on December 7, 1948, the day following 
the writer’s arrival on the site. Mr. Essington acted as assistant 
supervisor when he could find opportunity from his other regular 
duties at the plant. It was fortunate that several volunteers helped 
with the more painstaking and time-consuming tasks of the exca- 
vation. These men were Delf Norona, Sr., and Delf Norona, Jr., 
of Moundsville, William and Robert Athey of New Martinsville and 
Proctor, and Oscar Mairs of Charleston, W. Va. These men gave 
freely of their time, rendering invaluable assistance while the writer 
was engaged in the more technical aspects of the mound excavations. 
Without their help, in the press for speed, the record would certainly 
have been less complete. The workmen also showed a keen interest, 
indeed became quite expert in their unaccustomed tasks. Naturally, 
the green crew had to be trained during the progress of the explora- 
tion. 

In the preparation of this report, the writer is indebted to the 
following persons who made laboratory studies of the mound ma- 
terials: T. Dale Stewart, Department of Anthropology, George 5S. 
Switzer and Edward P. Henderson of the Department of Geology, all 
of the United States National Museum; George Ellinger of the 
National Bureau of Standards; and Robert M. Salter of the Depart- 
ment of Agriculture. Thanks are also due to Dolores Nourse for 
her assistance in the preparation of the manuscript. 


THE MOUND 


The mound was situated on a field adjoining the chemical plant 
at Natrium, 12 airline miles south of Moundsville and 8 airline miles 
north of New Martinsville. The property, a fairly level tract of 
land called Wells Bottom, had formerly been part of the Arrick farm. 
The mound was conspicuously situated within view of the factory 


No do), )~©—« ADENA MOUND AT NATRIUM—SOLECKI 319 


and the State highway on the second bottom or terrace above the 
Ohio River. It was 1,100 feet from the left bank of the river and 
250 feet from State Route No. 2, at an elevation of 680 feet mean 
sea level. The sparsely wooded hills fronting the Ohio Valley rose 
steeply 650 feet to the northeast of the mound. 

Like the Beech Bottom Mound farther north (Bache and Satter- 
thwaite, 1930, p. 134), the top of Natrium Mound had been dug 
into by “pot-hunters,’’ and the south side had been disturbed in 
modern times. 

This aboriginal feature, designated 46 Mr-2 in accordance with 
the trinominal system of site designation adopted for West Virginia 
(Solecki, 1949, p. 5), was not without neighbors. Another, and 
larger earth mound, is situated approximately three-fourths of a mile 
north of the Natrium Mound on Wells Bottom.’ It is also on the 
property of the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Co., but formerly belonged 
to the Wells family. A double or twin earth mound is situated at 
Captina, 5 airline miles north of Natrium. One of the most famous 
of all mounds, the Grave Creek Mound at Moundsville, W. Va., is 
only a few minutes’ drive to the north. The latter tumulus, a con- 
spicuous one, has excited speculation since the first time it was ob- 
served by white man. A mound had been recorded in New Martins- 
ville, but this earthwork had been destroyed without a trace during 
the expansion of this town in the nineteenth century. (Hennen, 
1909, pp. 18-19). 

A comparative analysis of Adena culture or complex was first made 
by E. F. Greenman (1932), who listed its diagnostic traits, comparing 
evidence from 70 sites in 5 States on the Ohio River. Subsequently 
the Adena culture was termed as part of the Burial Mound I Stage, or 
the beginning of a series of four mound-building stages in the east 
(Ford and Willey, 1941, pp. 334-338). Webb introduced additional 
material to the study of the Adena culture in a later work (Webb and 
Snow, 1945), systematically synthesizing this culture complex and its 
ramifications. Southern central Ohio and its immediate adjoining 
area seems to have been the most heavily concentrated region of the 
Adena culture (Webb and Snow, 1945, map 1, pp. 132-136). 

The mounds suggest a sedentary population which left evidence ot 
its social and religious structure. Pottery, although scarce, is present 
and agriculture seems to have been known. Hence, we may conclude 
that the Adena people included pottery and agriculture in their econ- 
omy (Setzler, 1940, p. 268; Webb and Snow, 1945, pp. 313-314). In 
Griffin’s (1943, p. 306) words, the Adena culture appears “. . . to 
represent a more highly institutionalized burial complex of the first 
semisedentary agricultural populations of the area.” 


3 Wills De Haas (n. d.) in the late nineteenth century cryptically notes a mound at “ Wells, above Proctor.”’ 


320 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY (BULL. 151 


Figure 13.—Map showing location of Natrium Mound. 


Map prepared by Joseph H. Essington. 
THE MOUND EXCAVATION 


A certain amount of preparation had to be made in order to ready 
the mound for test excavation. A telephone company had taken 
advantage of the eminence by erecting a pole for the wires on the 
mound summit. This had to be removed before work could begin. 
There was a dense growth of scrub trees and bushes on the mound 
dominated by a large cherry tree, 2 feet thick at the base. These also 
had to be removed. 

Mr. Essington and another engineer from the plant surveyed the 
mound in 1-foot contours (fig. 14), enabling the writer to attend to 
other preliminary duties. The tumulus presented an ovate or kidney- 
shaped outline in ground plan, since earth had been removed about 50 
years ago from the southeastern side for use in a fill. It was reported 
that when the elder Mr. Wells had cut into the mound side for soil, he 
had unearthed several aboriginal artifacts. At least this report was 
encouraging. The mound proper was 9.5 feet high and about 55 feet 


No go) = ADENA MOUND AT NATRIUM—SOLECKI 321 


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Figures 14.—Horizontal and vertical plans of Natrium Mound. 


Map prepared by Joseph H. Essington. 


in diameter. Instead of presenting the classic conical Adena shape 
in vertical profile, the mound appeared rather slumped. Undoubted- 
ly, it had been at least 4 or 5 feet higher at one time, since the top was 
flattened and the sides were eroded. There were distinct traces of a 


322 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Buup, 151 


shallow moat or ditch around the base of the mound about 6 inches 
deep and 4 feet wide. The weeds and grass growing in this low place 
were markedly distinguished by their large size and profusion. There 
was a small ovate hollow about 3 by 4 feet on top of the mound. It 
was less than 6 inches deep. 

The mound surface and its immediate locale was examined critically 
for evidence of artifacts, a search which was not too successful. A 
large single-pitted stone was recovered on the hill slope to the south- 
east of Natrium Mound. This was the only artifact found nearby. 
Two sandstone slabs, one measuring 1 foot by 8 by 2 inches, and 
another 8 by 8 by 1.5 inches were observed on the north side of the 
mound near the base. 

The necessity for completely leveling the mound within the time 
limit posed a dilemma, viz, how best to excavate with rapidity and 
yet not lose the record. Since much of the task in mound excavation 
(approximately 90 percent of the time involved) was concerned with 
earth removal, this was obviously our major problem. We were con- 
cerned mainly with the overburden and the excavated earth or ‘“‘back- 
fill.” Hence, a bulldozer was proposed for the expeditious removal of 
the bulk of the unwanted earth. Shovels, wheelbarrow, and trowels, 
and similar light tools were to be used for the more delicate tasks. In 
this manner, the available manpower was conserved for the strictly 
necessary hand operations. 

As the months of December and January were not the most auspi- 
cious times of the year and bad weather was the rule rather than the 
exception, shelter and some warmth had to be provided. Three can- 
vas tarpaulins, approximately 20 by 20 feet square, were tied on to 
elevated frameworks of wooden poles cut from nearby tree limbs. 
This shelter was kept over the work area. It helped to cover the men 
and the work’s progress during rain and snowfalls alike (pl. 24e). 
A fire was kept close to the area of operations, since the temperatures 
frequently went below freezing, and down to 14° F. one day. Nota 
single working day was lost. It was necessary to keep the dig open 
3 days over the estimated time for final completion, but this required 
only one or two regular workmen. 


PROGRESS OF THE MOUND EXCAVATION 


The progress of the mound excavation during the 23 days spent 
at Natrium is described below. References are made to one plate of 
photographs (pl. 24), six progress diagrams (fig. 15), and two detailed 
vertical cross sections (figs. 16 and 17) which convey an idea of the 
work involved, perhaps more vividly than written description. The 
bulldozer which facilitated the mound excavation and dug a test trench 
east of the mound proper, was operated for a total of 6 hours. De- 


Ao7ab) PA?) « ADENA MOUND AT NATRIUM—SOLECKI 323 


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Figure 15.—Six stages in the mound excavation. 


324 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY (BULL. 164 


scriptions of the various features (fire beds, burials, etc.) are given 
elsewhere. . 

The photographic record of the excavations is good. One hundred 
and sixteen 9-by-12-cm. black-and-white negatives were made of all 
stages of the operations from start to finish. In addition, eight photo- 
graphs (2% by 2% inches) were taken with another camera. To pre- 
serve some of the color features of the operations, 57 exposures of 35-mm. 
Kodachrome were made by the writer. Delf Norona, Jr., took 400 
feet of 16-mm. color film in his motion-picture camera and 40 Koda- 
chromes (35-mm.) in his still camera. The Pittsburgh Plate Glass Co.’s 
photographer took several views of the site and of the excavation 
progress. 

After the mound had been cleared of trees and bushes (pl. 24a) a 
grid system of 5-foot squares was superimposed on the mound and it 
was staked (fig. 14). The lines ran approximately N-S and E-W. A 
center line (ordinate), running to the west of the mound center, was 
established as “‘0”’ with respect to east and west. Another center line 
(abscissa), well to the south of the mound, was established as ‘‘0”’ with 
respect to north and south. All the stakes were marked. In order 
to keep directional notations correct, the abbreviations for east and 
west (EK, W) and north and south (N, 8S) were used. The stakes were 
reset on the grid as the excavations progressed down to the mound 
base. A 0.0-foot datum elevation point was established well to the 
west of the mound. This datum point was tied in to the base line 
of the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Co. All elevation measurements during 
the course of excavation were made from the datum point with a Locke 
hand level and a Philadelphia rod. The hand level was found to be 
entirely satisfactory for the many readings taken during the work. 

In order to ascertain the character of the mound and its contents, a 
test trench No. 1 (total length 125 feet) was started well out (45 feet) 
from the mound proper on the south side and carried forward on line 
E-0, W-0 (pl. 24); fig. 15.4). This trench was carried to a width of 
2.5 feet from stake S4—0 to stake N5-0 (the latter close to the mound 
base) where the trench width was increased to 5 feet. A deep filled-in 
cut encountered in the southerly part of the appreach trench between 
stakes N1-0 and S4—0 posed an interesting problem (fig. 16, insert). 
This cut, 20 feet wide at the top, tapered downward at a rather steep 
angle. We were forced to discontinue this section of the test, as the 
loose, sandy soil tbreatened to cave in after a depth of 4 feet had been 
reached. One of several shovel tests extending 6 feet farther down 
(making a total vertical depth of 10 feet) failed to strike bottom. The 
disturbed soil apparently continued downward. ‘The answer to this 
perplexing problem was happily elucidated when one of the plant en- 
gineers reported that we had cut across the excavation of a chemical 


320 


ANTHROP. PAP. 
No. 40] 


ADENA MOUND AT NATRIUM—SOLECKI 


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326 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 151 


pipeline, 12 inches in diameter, which angled through the field at this 
point from a brine well to the plant, cutting close to the mound (fig. 13). 
It was reported that this excavation reached a depth of 15 feet and had 
to be made rather wide, or about 15 feet, because of the loose shifting 
sands. ‘This problem solved, the test trench was continued over the 
top of the mound down to the other side (fig. 16); there the trench was 
brought to 20 feet beyond the mound base. The digging progressed 
in 6-inch levels. It was originally hoped that profiles of the shallow 
ditch could be made on both the north and south sides of the mound, 
but the circumstances of the chemical pipeline obliterated traces of 
the ditch on the south side. Consequently, only one disturbed profile 
of this feature was obtained (fig. 16, insert). A dark earth stain re- 
sembling a post mold,‘ 18 inches in diameter and extending 45 inches 
below the plow line, was found north of the ditch. No explanation 
could be offered, other than that it appeared to be old. This post 
mold, if it was such, was the only one encountered during the course of 
the exploration. 

The writer had a predetermined course of action regarding the exca- 
vation of the mound. It was deemed best to cut away the western 
section of the tumulus first, in order that a good photographic record 
might be had of the initial profile. The best light during the day 
seemed to be from the west and southwest. The test trench (No. 1) 
was cut to the west of center avoiding both the intrusive excavation 
marked by a slump in the middle and saving what possible material of 
importance might be found in the center for later. It was suspected 
that, as with most mounds of this type, the center was the locus of 
importance. While the work progressed on the approach of test 
trench No. 1, a shallow exploratory E-W test trench (No. 2) 20 feet 
long and 5 feet wide was carried to a depth of 1 foot on top of the 
mound and at right angles to the larger trench (fig. 15.A). An area of 
dark burned gravel appeared in the center of this E-W trench and some 
charcoal was found associated with a fragment of worked chert. This 
evidence was traced to its source, a dark patch of burned earth and 
odd fragments of charcoal covering about 1.5 feet in diameter, approx- 
imately 3 inches thick at a depth of 1 foot in square N10-0.5 No 
habitation evidence, specifically post holes, appeared in trench No. 2. 
In order to keep a N-S profile intact for reference purposes, trench No. 
2 was discontinued after this exploratory measure was taken and the 
main trench, No. 1, was continued. The soil was removed from the 
mound in a series of steps, working upward from the base of the mound 
on both sides. Two burned beef bones cut by a metal saw were found 


4 This may be one of the test drill holes made by a contractor in this area, according to a letter dated May 
30, 1945, sent by Delf Norona to the Smithsonian Institution. 
5 The individual square in the grid system is designated by the symbol of the southwest corner stake. 


NO u0), «6s ADENA MOUND AT NATRIUM—SOLECKI 327 
in square N12W1 at a depth of 6 inches. These were among the first 
artifacts of man recovered. Theitems were obviously much too recent 
for archeological consideration, although aboriginal material data 
was found only shortly thereafter. The test trench was carried to an 
initial depth of 6 feet below the mound summit and the base of the 
trench was leveled between stakes N7 and N14. The main soil con- 
stituent of the mound to this level was found to be a loose gravelly, 
sandy soil with an occasional fragment of charcoal. The humus layer, 
or surface sod, was between 1 and 2 inches thick. ‘Tree roots extended 
below this depth making a kind of subsurface network. Centering on 
the mound top was an intrusive excavation which had been refilled, 
making a distinct outline in the vertical cross section (fig. 16). This 
excavation was 4 feet deep and approximately 7 feet across the top, 
tapering downward to a width of 3 feet. The hollow, noted previously 
on page 322, marked this feature on the surface (fig. 14). It was not 
immediately ascertained how long the excavation was, but it appeared 
to be in the neighborhood of 10 feet as the later tests showed. This 
intrusive hole cut across two bands, about 1 inch thick, of red stains 
spotted with charcoal, which extended across the upper levels of the 
mound. These streaks followed the contour of the mound surface. It 
is presumed that they represent successive additions of earth heaped 
on the mound. A series of thicker bands, averaging 1.5 inches in 
thickness, or burned earth and charcoal, were found at a lower depth 
(fig. 16). They seemed to be part of a smaller included mound. The 
loose gravelly soil of the upper portion of the mound did not demarcate 
any stratigraphic evidence other than the lenses of fire-burned earth 
and streaks of black dirt. Evidence of stratigraphy and indications of 
individual earth loads were found better preserved closer to the base of 
the mound, where the soil characteristics were more favorable for these 
details. 

The next step planned was to cut away the gravelly overburden on 
either side of the tumulus center, leaving a 5-foot-wide reference pro- 
file or “key” approximately in the middle of the mound. An L-shaped 
cut (fig. 158, 3), an exploratory measure, was excavated to a depth 
of 6 feet from the top and to the right of the center of the mound. The 
profile cross section (fig. 17) drawn on line A—B within the limits of this 
excavation illustrates the lensing and soil stratigraphy. A section of 
another large intrusive pit, filled with light gravelly soil, cut through 
the layered lenses of black dirt. It disturbed the southern periphery 
of a burial, feature 32, which was unearthed later. There was a %- 
inch coating of light-colored clay at the bottom of the pit. There 
was no connection observed between this intrusive excavation and the 
one mentioned previously, hence it is presumed that these were two 

909871—52— —-22 


[Buby 151 


BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 


328 


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Antunop. Pa. — ADENA MOUND AT NATRIUM—SOLECKI 329 


separate holes dug into the top of the mound. The burial, which had 
apparently just escaped detection, was the first one we encountered, 
auguring well for the exploration. 

Tracing the soils beneath the humus line on the east side of the 
mound there was found a 1.5-foot deposit of dark soil which had the 
usual amount of roots and similar vegetal matter. It is likely that 
this was some of the dirt thrown out of the large intrusive pit. The 
soil in this level exhibited more gravelly characteristics toward the 
outer or eastern periphery of the cut. The pebbles were undoubtedly 
the products of natural mechanical segregation resulting from the 
enlargement of the mound, the heavier materials seeking their level 
at the outer and lower borders. ‘This may be likened to a talus slope 
deposition. Underlying the dark soil layer was a lighter-colored de- 
posit of gravelly soil about 1 foot thick, with an especially heavy base 
of pebbles about 5 inches thick concentrated on the bottom. It lay 
more toward the periphery of the mound. This also was probably 
a product of natural mechanical soil segregation. Similarly, follow- 
ing the mound contour, but on a steeper bedding plane, was a linear 
streak of black dirt averaging about 3 inches in thickness. This, in 
turn, lay over additional alternating lenses of light and dark soil. The 
latter soils, however, were more horizontally bedded. In the course 
the excavation artifacts and inclusive features—such as fire beds, bur- 
ials, ete.—were examined, charted, and excavated as they were en- 
countered. 

After exploratory cuts were made in the remaining standing por- 
tions of the top of the tumulus on either side of the key, it was decided 
to summon the bulldozer for the first time. It was determined to 
make equal cuts into the east and west sides of the mound at base level, 
paralleling the central reference profile or key. The latter’s axis was 
oriented north and south in the system of grid squares between lines 
W-1 and E-0. In addition, in view of the time element involved, it 
was thought best to plane both sides of the key down to the explored 
depth. Flags were set at the sides of the mound marking the inner 
limits of the cuts to be made by the bulldozer. The bulldozer oper- 
ator, an expert at his job, was briefed about the requirements. Thus 
instructed, he completed his phase of the operations (fig. 15C). 

First, the bulldozer scooped up the loose dirt on both sides of the 
key, planing down the explored overburden to the excavation level. 
Then he made cuts extending to approximately 2 feet below datum 
level outside the platform area, sufficiently below any occupation 
levels encountered. The dirt was heaped at both ends (north and 
south) of the mound far enough away so that it did not impede fur- 
ther progress. The workmen examined the exposed profile sections 
after the bulldozer operator had cut away each additional face. The 


330 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLn. 151 


blade of the bulldozer was an effective side-slicing instrument as well 
as a horizontal scraper. By exercising good control, vertical slicing 
was kept to widths of about 1 foot, although it was possible to slice as 
narrow as 6 inches when necessary. Used as a scraper, it was an easy 
matter for the bulldozer to skin off 8-inch horizontal levels, one at a 
time, backing up for each cut. 

The result was a key standing on a platform 37% feet long (east and 
west). The platform was 6 feet above datum level on the west side 
of the key and 4.5 feet above datum level on the east side of the key. 
This done, the stakes of the superimposing grid were reset on the plat- 
form, and conventional excavation with wheelbarrow, shovels, and 
smaller hand tools began anew. 

In order to uncover the central area, excavation was begun in a broad, 
inverted L-shape on the eastern side of the key (fig. 15D, 4). This ex- 
cavation was carried down to an initial depth of 2.5 feet from the 
surface of the platform or 2.5 feet above datum. It was discovered 
that the greatest amount of archeological material, including skeletal 
remains, etc., came from approximately this elevation. This held true 
for the rest of the mound as the excavation progressed. Laminated 
light-colored soil deposits 2 to 3 feet in diameter and about 6 inches 
thick were noted in the lower deposits. These could have represented 
individual loads of earth. Large lenses of ash-gray soil were also 
found. Another test trench (fig. 15D, 5) 2 feet wide was carried east 
to west through the excavation in the eastern side of the mound at 
right angles to the standing profile. This trench reached a depth of 
3 inches below datum level into virgin soil. 

Since the weather was becoming increasingly unfaverable, a frame- 
work of poles covered with canvas tarpaulins was erected in order to 
permit excavation in the central rectangle. A large fire was kept 
burning each day in the shallow pit which had been dug to the east 
of the mound. 

The mound shelf to the west side of the key was tested with a system 
of three interlocking test trenches in the shape of the Greek letter z, 
(pl. 24c; fig. 15D, 6). These trenches, about 1.5 to 2 feet wide, were 
carried to a depth of 4 feet from the platform surface. Lensed pockets 
of earth appeared in this western mound section. Another trench 
(fig. 15D, 7), 33 feet long and i.5 feet wide, was cut at the base of the 
western profile section to a depth of 2 feet below the surface which had 
been cut away by the bulldozer. This trench did not reveal any ad- 
ditional data. 

The portion east of the key was taken down with shovel and wheel- 
barrow. The portion to the west of the key was sliced away by the 
bulldozer leaving a two-step platform, the lower of which was 2 feet 
above the datum plane (pl. 24d, fig. 15). The northern and southern 


No uo) f= ADENA MOUND AT NATRIUM—SOLECKI 331 


sides of the mound were crosscut with the bulldozer and the dirt heap 
resulting from the hand excavations was removed. Since the key or 
reference profile threatened to slump, it was decided to remove this 
also, using hand labor. It had been planned originally to leave the 
key until last. The roots and root tendrils coupled with the frost were 
expected to help support the key. However, the gravelly character 
of the soil plus the rain and an unexpected thaw caused the key to 
slump. Hence it could not be maintained intact. 

An increasing wealth of data was uncovered as the mound base was 
approached. ‘These data were concentrated in the mound center (fig. 
18). Domed concentrations and piles of gray-colored soil were noted 
near the center also, principally near the base. Areas of sterile yellow 
clay soil were found at the mound base, indicating a prepared floor 
(figs. 19A, B). The gray and yellow soils were undoubtedly part of the 
preparation for the interment of burials within the mound. These 
soils are discussed under the heading ‘‘Soil samples” in the appendix. 
There was a streak of black dirt in the north section of the mound which 
appeared to be of humus origin. This streak was 1.5 feet above the 
datum elevation. There was another streak of dark earth on the east- 
ern periphery also. These may have marked the original surface 
which apparently had been largely stripped of the soil cover in the 
preparation of the mound floor. 

A central fire pit (feature 28) occurred in the mound floor extending 
into the sterile gravel layer below the mound (figs. 16, 17). This 
feature, judging from related mounds, was evidently the center of im- 
portance within Natrium Mound. However, there was a singular lack 
of material data recovered in comparison with other features in the 
same mound. A network series of test trenches were systematically 
dug through the mound base into this sterile soil (fig. 15). No further 
data were found. The test trenches extended from 1 to 2 feet in depth 
below the base of the mound proper. 

The majority of the mound features were found at an elevation vary- 
ing between 1 to 2.5 feet above the datum plane (figs. 16, 17) or a little 
above the base of the mound proper. In the final stage of the excava- 
tion, after we were satisfied that no more features were to be found, 
the bulldozer sliced away the remainder. The final cut was from 2 to 
3 feet below the base of the mound (pl. 24f). 

In the hope of finding village remains, the bulldozer made a test cut 
75 feet to the east of the mound (fig. 13). This trench was 116 feet 
long, 10 feet wide, and 2.5 feet deep. No aboriginal features of any 
kind were found. The subsoil was a sterile yellow earthy terrace 
gravel containing stones of various small sizes. Neither the sides of 
the cut nor the excavation floor area showed anything of interest. 


3a BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL 151 


THE MOUND FEATURES 


INTRODUCTION 


In order to make the feature descriptions more orderly and to facili- 
tate the study, the 51 features were arbitrarily regrouped and renum- 
bered. ‘There were two major classes of features: Those not contain- 
ing burials or any traces of skeletal material (numbered 1-31), and the 
second class consisting of the burials (82-51). The latter were repre- 
sented by one or more osseous fragments. The features of these two 
groups were arranged in numerical order depending on their elevations 
from datum, those encountered at higher elevations having the lower 
feature number. It was subsequently learned that through phosphate 
analysis, many of the features of the first group, although not con- 
taining preserved skeletal matter, also may have represented burials. 

The written descriptions were supplemented by scaled diagrams 
and photographs. The tapes and scales used in the field were marked 
in feet and decimal parts of feet. The data presented below were 
necessarily compressed. Through error, no datum elevation was 
obtained for three small fire beds (Nos. 29-31). The major features 
are illustrated in figure 18. 

An interpretative summary of the mound features is given at the 
end of the descriptions. 

DESCRIPTION 


Feature 1.—This was apparently a fire bed identified by a thin, con- 
cave lens of reddened and burned earth, 0.25 foot thick, containing a 
mixture of pebbles and charcoal. It was situated in square N12E1 
at an elevation of 6.1 feet from datum. The outline was 1.3 feet in 
diameter, and circular in shape. No associated artifacts were present. 

Feature 2.—A fire bed, identified by burned-appearing red-brown 
earth and ashes, was encountered in square N9E3 at an elevation of 5.4 
feet from datum. This feature was 1.4 feet in diameter by 0.1 foot 
thick. There was no associated material. 

Feature 3.—There were indications of a strong fire by the amount 
of fire-burned earth which extended for a depth of 2 feet. This fire 
bed was situated in squares N5W4 and N6W4 at an elevation of 5.4 
feet from datum. Associated remains were absent. 

Feature 4.—A thin layer of reddish-brown earth containing asso- 
ciated artifacts and red ochre was found in squares N11E2 and N12EK2 
(pl. 24g). This layer, only 0.25 foot thick, measured 5.0 feet in 
NW-SE direction by 3.0 feet in SW-NE direction. It was encoun- 
tered at an elevation of 4.9 feet from datum and 5.2 feet from the surface 


¢ Dr. T. Dale Stewart, of the Department of Anthropology (Division of Physical Anthropology), U. 8, 
National Museum, identified the burial remains submitted to him for examination. 


No do)’ «= ADENA MOUND AT NATRIUM—SOLECKI 333 


© xs 
SEMI-KEELED 

x GORGE. 
REEL SHAPED fs YD 

GORGET 
7 
{i 
. \ 


SCALE IN FEET 


Figure 18.—The distribution of the mound features. 


334 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bunn. 151 


of the mound at this point. It contained 13 chert blades or knives, 
1 mud concretion, 1 natural ferruginous cup stone, and a quantity 
of red ochre. These artifacts were undoubtedly arranged with some 
purpose in view in the manner found. Ten of the chert blades (leaf 
type) lay close together as in a cache, overlapping one another. They 
were completely covered by a bed of red ochre, 1 by 0.7 by 0.1 foot 
in dimension, which had to be scraped off in order to expose the blades. 
A large stemmed blade occurred in this same red ochre 0.4 foot to the 
south of the blades. Another stemmed blade associated with a smaller 
patch of red ochre was exposed 6 inches away from the main cache. 
A lone stemmed chert blade (pl. 287) was uncovered 2 feet to the north 
of this group. This blade was not associated with red ochre. A 
small deposit of the substance was exposed between the group of 
blades and the stemmed blade. A darker area, perhaps indicating 
organic substance long since rotted away, was observed on the eastern 
side of this feature. The dark area, oblong in outline, measured 0.3 
by 1.6 feet. Black mixed earth was found below this feature. 

Feature §.—A small string of seven copper beads, associated with 
some dark fibrous organic matter resembling bark, was found in 
square N10E2. This feature, 4.6 feet from datum and 7.0 feet from 
the mound surface, was uncovered in the course of removing the mound 
fill. 

Feature 6.—Charcoal and some discolored earth marking a fire bed 
were found in square N10W1. The fire bed lay 4.6 feet above datum 
and 7.0 feet below the mound surface. It was circular in outline with 
a diameter of 2.5 feet and 0.1 foot in thickness. The charcoal and dis- 
colored earth were separated in two thin lenses. A hematite celt (pl. 
262) was found 2.0 feet to the southwest of this feature in dark earth. 

Feature 7.—A fire bed marked by reddish-brown earth and a small 
quantity of associated red ochre was found in square N9W1. This 
feature lay 4.6 feet above datum and 7.0 feet from the mound surface. 
Directly beneath it was a group burial, feature 35. Feature 7 was ap- 
proximately 2.5 feet in diameter and circular in outline with a thickness 
of about 0.1 foot. Associated with it was one pestle-shaped stone and 
one whetstone, including the small quantity of red ochre. 

Feature 8 —A low ovate mound of blackened, cracked, and burned- 
appearing sandstones were found in squares N11-0, N11E1. Several 
of the stones appear to have been broken in place. Situated 4.4 feet 
from datum and 6.5 feet below the mound surface, this feature meas- 
ured 2.5 by 4.0 feet and was 0.75 foot thick. It was oriented in a N-S 
direction. No artifacts were directly associated with these stones. 
The tops of several stones had some reddish-brown matter adhering to 
them. Two more flat sandstone slabs were found close to the main 
heap. They lay to the southwest. 


No 40). =) ADENA MOUND AT NATRIUM—SOLECKI 335 

Feature 9.—A bed of charcoal in which were included several patches 
of light-colored earth was discovered in squares N8E1, N8E2, N9E1, 
N9E2 at an elevation of 4.1 feet from datum. This feature was cir- 
cular, measuring 3.0 feet in diameter by 0.2 foot thick. Associated 
artifacts were absent. 

Feature 10.—The reddened soil of a circular-shaped fire bed with an 
included thickness of a mixture of charcoal was found in square N6W2 
at an elevation of 4.0 feet above datum. The fire bed was 3.0 feet in 
diameter and between 0.05 and 0.15 foot thick. No artifacts were 
found in or near this feature. 

Feature 11.—A fire bed was found in squares N7E3 and N7E4 at an 
elevation of 4.0 feet from datum and 1.5 feet below the mound surface. 
This fire bed, marked by a streak of orange-red earth, lay above a layer 
of black earth unassociated with any other data. It was circular in 
outline with a diameter of 2.5 feet and a thickness of 0.05 foot. 

Feature 12.—A circular-shaped lens of reddish-orange burned earth, 
which was associated with decomposed organic remains found to the 
northwest of this feature, was 3.5 feet in diameter and 0.05 foot thick. 
Three chert blades were uncovered above the bed. <A quantity of red 
ochre was found on the eastern periphery of feature 12 (square N8E4). 

Feature 13.—A fire bed was situated in square N9-0 at an elevation 
of 3.8 feet from datum. It was circular in outline, 2.0 feet in diameter 
and 9.5 foot in thickness. The fire bed was composed of charcoal and 
ashes. Charcoal, which lay longitudinally across the top of this fea- 
ture, was especially abundant. Artifacts were lacking, but there were 
some stones within the confines of the lens. The earth immediately 
above it was discolored a lighter hue for several inches. 

Feature 14.—The reddened and burned earth of a fire bed was found 
overlapping the boundary of squares N11E3, N11E4 at an elevation of 
3.6 feet from datum. This thin-lensed feature (0.05 foot thick) was 
ovate in shape. It was 3.0 feet in width (N-S) and 4.0 feet in length 
(E-W). Associated material included a small quantity of red ochre 
recovered on the southern periphery of the bed and a chert flake on the 
eastern border. A projectile point was found nearby to the east of the 
feature. 

Feature 15.—An orange-colored lens of earth containing a small 
amount of red ochre and a small string of four copper beads was dis- 
covered in square N8E4 at an elevation of 3.5 feet from datum. This 
feature was ovate in outline with a maximum diameter of 2.0 feet. It 
was 0.05 foot thick at its maximum point. 

Feature 16.—Six copper beads accompanying a fragment of preserved 
string were uncovered during the examination of a fairly large ovate 
feature in square N10E5. This feature, found at an elevation of 3.0 
feet from datum, measured 7.0 feet (N-S) by 4.0 feet (E-W). It was 


336 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Buny, 151 


shallowly concave in cross section with a maximum thickness of 0.1 
foot. There was a layer of gray soil beneath the red earth of this 
feature. Light-colored gravel occurred above it. 

Feature 17.—Three thicknesses of orange-red colored lenses of earth 
were found in square N10E4 at an elevation 3.0 feet from datum. The 
over-all thickness was 0.25 foot. The topmost stratum measured 4.0 
feet (N-S) by 2.0 feet (E-W). The lower layers, oval in outline, were 
each 1.5 by 0.5 feet. An intermediate layer of dark earth separated 
them. Seven heavily patinated chert blades were found associated 
with the top layer lying immediately to the north side of its boundary. 
Four were grouped together, while the others were spaced about 1.5 
feet apart. 

Feature 18.—A heavy black deposit of earth mixed with traces of 
charcoal and burned earth was found in square N10E1 at an elevation 
of 3.0 feet from datum. It was circular in outline with a diameter of 
3.0 feet and a thickness of 0.075 foot. A chert blade occurred in the 
burned earth. This feature lay immediately above part of feature 21. 

Feature 19.—A charcoal bed containing four fire-burned and fire- 
cracked stones was uncovered in square N8-0 at an elevation of 2.9 
feet from datum. This bed, 1.0 foot in diameter, lay in an area of 
light-colored mixed soil. 

Feature 20.—A reddish-brown colored lens, capped by a layer of 
brown soil and surrounded by loose gray soil, was excavated in square 
N9-0. This feature, lying at an elevation of 2.6 feet from datum, was 
3.0 feet in diameter and 0.05 foot thick. A number of artifacts, in- 
cluding 5 chert blades, 2 celts,’ 1 hematite hemisphere (pl. 271), 1 
broken projectile point, 1 chert scraper, 1 round stone ball (pl. 26f), 
and 1 piece of mussel shell were found in it. 

Feature 21.—A compacted lens of red-brown earth 0.05 foot thick 
associated with a large number of artifacts, principally blades, was un- 
covered in squares N9E1 and N10H1 at an elevation of 2.6 feet from 
datum. This feature was ovate in outline, measuring 5.0 feet (N-S) 
by 2.5 feet (E-W). The artifacts recovered include 109 chert blades, 
1 fragment of hematite celt, 1 chert drill, 1 fragmentary chert drill, 1 
excavated steatite boat stone, 1 projectile point, 1 fragmentary bear 
canine tooth, and 1 fragmentary chert artifact. A small quantity of 
red ochre was also recovered in 2 patches. The artifacts were found 
in layered cluster concentrations indicating purposeful arrangement 
(pl. 247). The boatstone (pl. 25%, 7), situated on the top of the largest 
group of blades, had its hollow side downward. Some loose dirt and a 
few small pebbles, apparently sifted in from the outside, were found 
therein. The blades seemed to have been arranged in no definite orien- 
tation and were stuck in the lens at all angles. The fragmentary hem- 


’ The base of one of the celts (pl. 26g) appears to be discolored by graphite. 


NOHO) FP’? = ADENA MOUND AT NATRIUM—SOLECKI 337 


atite celt (pl. 26a’) was found with the bit end pointing downward. 
All the artifacts, particularly blades, show evidence of intense heat- 
ing, accounting for some of the blade fractures. Some of the latter 
objects (pl. 28 7, k, x) are encrusted with as much as 1 mm. thickness of 
black carbonized organic matter which may have been part of a cover- 
ing or associated perishable goods. A layer of compacted dark earth 
was found beneath this feature. A lens of loose gray soil overlapped 
from the eastern side of the mound. 

Feature 22.—A group of artifacts was uncovered in this feature which 
was situated in square N11W1 at an elevation of 2.1 feet from datum. 
It was 4.0 feet in diameter and 0.45 foot thick. There were two groups 
of 15 chert blades, some evidence of copper beads, 2 patches of yellow 
ochre, 2 deposits of red ochre, and 2 small patches of whitish material. 

Feature 23.—An oblong-shaped fire bed of orange-red earth was 
uncovered in square N11E3 at an elevation of 2.3 feet from datum. 
It was 2.0 feet in diameter and measured 0.07 foot at the thickest part. 
There were no associated artifacts. 

Feature 24.—A fire bed, 1.5 feet in diameter and 0.05 foot thick, was 
encountered in square N11E2 at an elevation of 2.0 feet from datum. 
Associated remains were absent. 

Feature 25.—An ovate-shaped bed of orange-red earth with a thin 
covering of white matter was found occupying portions of squares 
NS8E2, NSE3, N9E2, and N9E3 at an elevation of 1.7 feet from datum. 
This lens, measuring 6.0 feet (N-S) by 3.7 feet (E-W), was 0.05 foot 
thick. Associated with this feature were 1 fragmentary chert blade, 
2 celts, 1 slate pendant gorget (pl. 26b), 4 hematite hemispheres, 2 
faceted hematite stones, 8 chert projectile points, 1 flaked reject, 3 
small concentrations of red ochre and 2 traces of red ochre, a deposit of 
some yellowish-brown matter, and a small deposit of black organic 
matter. Seven of the projectile points were found lying close to the 
gorget. Next to the gorget was also some dark charred organic sub- 
stance. The artifacts were crusted with a thin coating of the white 
matter mentioned above. The hematite hemispheres were grouped 
together, the convex sides upward. One of the flints lay in a deposit of 
red ochre. 

Feature 26.—A lens of reddish-brown earth 2.0 feet in diameter was 
found in square N5E2 at an elevation of 1.5 feet from datum. Some 
red ochre was all that was to be noted within this feature. 

Feature 27.—A concentration of charcoal and ashes was uncovered 
partially below feature 46, a burial, in square N8-0 at an elevation of 
1.2 feet from datum. This feature was circular in outline measuring 
4.0 feet in diameter and 0.45 foot thick. Feature 27, lying 0.5 foot 
below the burial, was shot through with indications of a strong fire. 


338 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bunn, 151 


This evidence may have been directly associated with the overlying 
burial. 

Feature 28.—This was a pit at the approximate center of the mound 
intruding into the yellow basal soil stratum in squares N9E1, N9E2, 
N10E1, N10E2. The top of the pit was 1.0 foot from datum and 
10.5 feet from the surface of the mound at this point. This feature 
was 0.9 foot deep, basin-shaped in cross section, and 4.5 feet (N-S) 
long by 2.9 feet (H-W) wide. It was oval-shaped in horizontal plan 
section. The pit was filled with dark earth in which were mixed some 
loose pebbles. There was a lens of loose gray soil over it and a low 
heap of the same soil around the pit mouth. The sides of the pit in- 
terior were lined with orange-colored soil and some white matter. One 
stemmed projectile point and a small quantity of red ochre were found 
in this orange soil near the northern periphery. There was a thickness 
(approximately 0.04 foot) of orange-red earth in which were included 
several fragments of charcoal situated near the base of the pit. At 
the bottom there was a hard layer of reddish-brown earth 0.05 foot 
thick, while underneath the pit the earth appeared to have been burn- 
ed for another 0.05 foot. There was no evidence of log tombing or 
indications of any other kind of structural work associated with this 
feature. 

Feature 29.—A small fire bed, 2.0 feet in diameter, was uncovered 
in square N6E2 by the bulldozer. Through error, no datum elevation 
was taken on this feature. It was composed of a reddish-brown earth 
lens 0.1 foot thick which included a few charcoal fragments. There 
were no associated artifacts. 

Feature 80.—A small lens of reddish-brown earth capped by some 
loose gray earth was encountered in square N11W3 while bulldozing 
the loose earth fill aside. No measurements were obtained. There 
were no associated artifacts. 

Feature 81.—A small deposit of charcoal and burned gravel was 
uncovered in square N9-0. There were no associated artifacts. Un- 
fortunately, measurements were not taken of this feature. 

Feature 32.—Cranial fragments were encountered near the bottom 
of a recent intrusive pit in square N9E2 at an elevation of 8.4 feet 
from datum and 3.5 feet from the mound surface. The southern 
edge of feature 32 had been disturbed by the excavation which 
apparently missed this burial (fig. 17). This feature was oval in out- 
line, 7.5 feet wide (E-W) by 9.0 feet long (N-S). Its determinable 
depth was 0.2 foot. The bones were found in association with organic 
discolorations, resembling bark, 0.3 foot above the feature bottom. 
Two projectile points, 5 blades, a string of 33 copper beads, and 1 whet- 
stone (pl. 27g) were found lying close together on a bed of orange-red 
earth near the human remains. There was much evidence of intense 


No go] )=6©—) 6 ADENA MOUND AT NATRIUM—SOLECKI 339 


heat and burning. The bottom was lined with a thin layer of light- 
colored clay. The skeletal remains consist of fragments of a skull 
vault of medium thickness and a few permanent teeth. The skull- 
vault fragments (parietal and frontal) were found lying one above the 
other. The edges were somewhat blackened. From the condition 
of the sutures and the wear of the teeth, this individual was at least 
middle-aged. Sex could not be determined. 

Feature 33.—A burial was uncovered in squares N9W1, N9-0 at an 
elevation of 5.0 feet from datum. The remains consisted of the bones 
of two extended postcranial skeletons, both very poorly preserved. 
These bones were lying on a bed of dark earth and charcoal accompa- 
nied by gray ashes and some reddened earth. ‘There were no associated 
artifacts. The burials appeared to have been articulated. Both were 
extended in a north-south direction, but headed in opposite directions. 
The preservation was so poor that only the long bones and a few of the 
foot bones could be identified. 

Feature 34.—A fairly important burial occupied portions of squares 
N11E1, N11E2, N12E1, N12E2 at an elevation of 4.4 feet from datum. 
The feature was ovate in outline, about 4.0 feet in diameter with a 
thickness of 0.5 foot. Among the large number of funerary materials 
found with the burial are included 2 chert blades and 1 fragmentary 
blade, 1 copper reel gorget and associated preserved textile remains 
(pl. 25 a, b), coiled strings of 291 copper beads, some chert chips and 
flakes, 2 projectile points and 1 fragmentary projectile point, 1 chert 
reject, and a quantity of red ochre. The burial, accompanied by the 
enumerated goods, lay on a reddish layer of apparently fire-burned 
earth covered with a small capping mound of ash-gray soil 3.0 feet high. 
There appeared to have been the remains of a bark covering over the 
beads and associated copper gorget. The crown of a deciduous canine 
tooth adhering to a piece of alveolar bone preserved by copper salts 
was all that was recovered of the human material. 

The burial furniture was undoubtedly carefully arranged as found 
in situ (pl. 24h). There was no evidence of tomb construction of any 
kind. 

The artifacts may be divided into three groups of associated objects. 
Group 1 consists of the copper gorget and associated material; group 
2 consists of a string of large copper beads; group 3 consists of a spread- 
eagle arrangement of at least three different-sized copper beads with 
other accompanying objects. 

Beneath the gorget in group 1 was a piece of textile preserved by the 
copper salts (pl. 25 a, b). To the right of the gorget was a crudely 
worked black chert specimen. <A patch of white powdery material, 2 
inches in diameter, was found close to the latter. To the left and im- 


340 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLy. 151 


mediately adjacent to the gorget was a layer of orange-red colored 
earth. 

Group 2 consisted of a string of 19 large copper beads which had been 
coiled laterally upon itself. A small rectangularly shaped piece of 
common coal lay in the center of this group. 

Group 3 represents the only figurelike arrangement of beads found in 
the mound. What may have represented the body was outlined by 
two parallel strings of copper beads converging toward the top. A 
wing-spread arrangement of beads closed the figure at the top and a 
long string of beads whose ends extended several inches beyond the 
figure, closed the bottom. A patch of white material was found sur- 
mounting the figure at the head. Within the center of the enclosed 
frame of beads was recovered a dark stemmed chert projectile point 
and the pointed end of a gray chert projectile point. A light-colored 
stemmed projectile point of chert occurred within the right wing of 
this figure. A large deposit of red ochre about 0.5 to 0.7 foot in dia- 
meter was found in direct association with this group, lying under and 
next to the right wing. Some yellow-ochre stains were also noted ad- 
jacent to the red ochre. 

The deposit of white material near the chert specimen in group 1 
gave a low test for phosphate, hence it was certainly not cremated bone 
remains. The other deposit of white material at the head of the figure 
in group 3 was very high in phosphate content, therefore it probably 
represented cremation remains or bone ash. 

Feature 86.—Extending in squares NSW1, NSW2, N9W1, N9W2 was 
found a burial feature of large dimensions. It lay at an elevation of 
4.6 feet from datum and 7.0 feet from the mound surface. The burial 
shape was ovate measuring 10.0 feet (N-S) by 8.0 feet (E-W) and was 
0.4 feet thick. The skeletal material recovered was that of two poorly 
preserved adult reburials (?) lying on the characteristic lens of reddish- 
-brown earth. The burials were extended side by side, heading in op- 
posite directions, one to the north (facing east); the other to the south 
(facing position undetermined). The bones rested on decayed organic 
matter which in turn overlay the reddened earth patch mentioned. 
Recognizable bone fragments include right and left tali, sacrum, left 
scapula, right tympanic bone, lower jaw, and the following permanent 
teeth: Left upper Pm1, Pm2, M1, M2, M3; upper right M3; left lower 
Pm2, M1 (?), M2 (?). The teeth are moderately worn and hence 
adult. These came from the north-heading burial. The bulk of the 
artifacts recovered lay above the thorax of the burial headed north. 

Some small fragments of charcoal were found near the center of the 
burials. A patch of clay about 8 inches in diameter enclosing a chert 
blade was found over the lower midsection of the north-headed burial. 
The skull of this burial lay on a bed of charcoals and red earth. A 


NO7nO) 8’ = ADENA MOUND AT NATRIUM—SOLECKI 341 


whetstone with an associated faceted hematite stone (pl. 27f) occurred 
at its jaw beneath three other faceted hematite stones and a linearly 
inscribed or cut sandstone. Directly adjacent to it was a drill point 
(pl. 280’) and some small chert flakes lying in a spongy mass of reddish- 
brown earth. <A fragment of worked bone and a hematite celt were 
also closely associated with the lower part of the head. 

Two small patches of red ochre were observed on either side of 
this feature. 

The total assemblage of specimens from this group includes 1 chert 
blade (pl. 28p), 2 fragmentary chert blades, 1 piece of worked bone, 
1 celt, 1 chert drill, 15 chert flakes, 4 faceted hematite stones (1 in situ 
lying on a grooved silt stone), 1 fragmentary projectile point, 1 chert 
reject, 1 piece of mussel shell, 1 grooved so-called whetstone of silt 
stone, and 1 sandstone abrading stone (pl. 27a). 

Feature 36.—A unique reburial was unearthed in squares N11E2, 
N11K3 at an elevation of 4.1 feet from datum, occupying an oval area 
of about 3.5 feet in maximum diameter. The remains consisted 
of some crushed cranial fragments lying between 2 long bones. These 
bones, poorly preserved, occupied an area of 1.0 by 2.1 feet. The 
teeth showed moderate wear and the skull showed the beginning 
of endocranial suture closing, hence this was an adult. From the 
skull’s thickness, it was judged to be a male. The long bones lay 
close to either side of the cranial remains converging to the rear. 
There was a layer of black dirt around the bones which seemed to 
have been set in a rather shallow pit. The crowns of the five molar 
teeth recovered (left upper: M1, M2, and M3; right upper: M2, 
M3), especially those of the right side, were stained black. Associated 
artifacts were absent. 

Feature 37.—Evidence of a cremated burial was unearthed in 
square N8E2 at an elevation of 2.8 feet from datum. This burial 
occupied a circular area of 1.0 foot in diameter and was 0.2 foot thick. 
It consisted of some cremated, or at least burned, bones lying in 
a little heap on a 0.25-foot layer of reddish-brown earth, also pre- 
sumably burned, with some associated charcoal. A small patch 
of red ochre accompanied the burial. Associated artifacts were not 
present, other than one rubbed hematite stone. Feature 37 lay in 
dark mixed earth next to a deposit of loose gray soil. A 0.7-foot 
thickness of gravel and mixed earth lens was encountered directly 
below the burial. Laboratory examination disclosed that of the large 
amount of small calcined bone fragments recovered, many have a 
human character. However, only one, a terminal phalanx, can be 
definitely identified as human. 

Feature 38.—This burial consisted of some verdigris-preserved 
bone fragments unearthed with accompanying burial furniture in 


342 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bunn 151 


square N6E2 at an elevation of 2.7 feet. It occupied an oval area, 3.5 
(E-W) by 2.5 (N-S) feet with a thickness of 0.5 foot. A basal fire 
bed of orange-red color comprised the larger visible portion of this 
feature. It was associated with a patch of red ochre about 0.7 foot in 
diameter. In the center of the fire bed was an 0.5-foot deposit 
of brown earth in which was found a string of 61 copper beads, 1 
fragmentary chert drill, 1 fragmentary chert nodule, and 1 ordinary 
beach pebble. The copper-preserved bones associated with the beads 
were also recovered in the brown-earth area. Within this feature, 
1 foot to the east of the human remains, a small pile of 88 chert flakes 
was encountered lying in a small patch of red earth. 

Feature 89.—A bundle burial was unearthed in square N7W1 at 
an elevation of 2.6 feet from datum and at a depth of 5.0 feet from 
the mound surface. This feature was circular in shape measuring 
2.0 feet in diameter and 0.1 foot in thickness. A number of bone 
fragments, too small for definite identification, were recovered. 
The flat bones were too thin and the long bones were too slender to 
be human. These remains were not accompanied by any artifacts. 
They were lying on a layer of reddish-brown earth beneath several 
pieces of stone to the southwest of feature 8 (rockheap). Feature 
39 lay nearly directly over feature 42. 

Feature 40.—One of the most productive mound burials was 
uncovered in squares N11—0, N11E1 at an elevation of 2.5 feet from 
datum or 8.0 feet from the mound surface. This feature was ovate in 
outline, measuring 5.0 feet (NE-SW) by 2.0 feet (NW-SE) and 
0.5 foot thick. There was a 3-foot covering of loose light-gray soil over 
the burial, at the base of which was a layer of brick-red earth between 
0.25 to 0.05 foot thick. The earth surrounding the feature was 
solidly packed, dark mixed earth. The funerary furniture accom- 
panying the little skeletal remains recovered was apparently carefully 
arranged. The total human remains found were a pair of unerupted 
deciduous lower molars (M2) stained green from contact with copper. 
The copper preservative was derived from the verdigris of one string 
of 233 copper beads which had been carefully looped in the center of 
the feature, surrounded by other material. A small string of 38 
pearl and shell beads lay 3 inches away from the copper string. 
Some fibrous and woody matter was also preserved by the action 
of the copper salts. Other specimens found in association with this 
burial were 7 chert blades, 1 celt of nonferruginous stone, 1 chert 
drill (pl. 282’) and 1 fragmentary chert drill, 1 hematite hemisphere, 1 
abrading stone, 3 grooved whetstones, some flint flakes, a small patch 
of black carbonized particles, 3 concentrations of red ochre (the largest 
measuring 1.5 feet in diameter), 3 concentrations of yellow ocherous 
powder, and 2 small concentrations of whitish powder. One of the 


No go) t= ADENA MOUND AT NATRIUM—SOLECKI 343 


white-powder patches, containing a very high amount of phosphate, 
lay directly above one of the grooved whetstones. Red ochre was 
associated with the copper beads which were looped over the four 
largest blades. The hematite hemisphere (pl. 27k) had a hollow 
underside which lay uppermost. The beads and hemisphere lay on 
what may have been a covering of skins. 

Feature 41.—A domelike capping of loose gray soil (fig. 17), similar 
to that found in feature 40, was encountered in the excavation of this 
burial which overlapped the boundaries of squares N9E2—N10E2, 
N9E3-N10E3, N9E4—N10E4. The base of this feature was situated 
2.4 feet above datum elevation and 8.7 feet below the mound surface 
at this point. It was ovate in shape, measuring 18.0 feet (E—-W) by 
4.0 feet (N-S) and 2.75 feet thick. Within this feature, which was 
composed of gray soil, was a smaller ovate patch of dark-brown earth 
measuring 4.5 feet (E—W) by 1.5 feet (N-S). Gray soil occurred at 
0.5 foot below the dark oval stain, continuing downward. This 
inner feature was surrounded by a thin line up to 0.05 foot thick of 
what seemed to be organic matter. The latter may have been bark 
or a similar substance. An 0.8-foot ovate patch of clean white sand 
0.3 foot thick surrounded by black greasy dirt was observed in the 
middle part of this enclosure. Fifteen lumps of semiworked hema- 
tite and one faceted piece of hematite were uncovered on the south 
side of the sand patch. Some charcoal was noted to the northeast 
of the sand patch. Organic (wood?) matter 1.0 foot wide and 0.05 
foot thick was found on the south side of the patch. 

Skeletal material uncovered in the eastern portion of the inner 
feature consisted of parts of two or three cervical vertebrae. These 
were copper-stained by the preservative action of verdigris from asso- 
ciated copper beads. Arthritic lipping on these vertebrae indicates 
an age of probably over 40 years. Three fragments of molar tooth 
caps were uncovered very close by in association with a string of 58 
copper beads. The verdigris from the copper beads preserved the 
teeth from total disintegration. Directly associated with the skeletal 
remains were 2 strings of 64 copper beads, a deposit of red ochre 
measuring 0.5 foot in diameter, 1 modified tubular sandstone pipe 
(pl. 25k), and 1 side-notched projectile point (pl. 289’). The beads 
were lying on a 0.05-foot layer of bark. The pipe lay on reddish- 
brown soil up to 0.05 foot thick. 

Some indications of wood were found within the burial confines 
and near the sides which might have been part of an entombment or 
covering of some kind. The organic remains of a log or some other 
woody material measuring approximately 2.5 feet long by 0.3 foot in 
diameter was uncovered on the northwest border of the larger enclosing 

909871—52—23 


344 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLn, 151 


outline. Three smaller woody remains were uncovered on the periph- 
ery of this feature. None of these indications were strong enough to 
be followed in detail. 

Arranged in a linear line through the middle of the larger feature 
on its long axis (E—-W) between the inner burial outline and the western 
border, was encountered the remainder of the associated artifacts. 
These include 26 chert blades, 1 hematite celt (pl. 26y), 2 chert flakes, 
2 fragmentary chert rejects, 2 elongate natural flat pebbles, and 4 
projectile points. The chert blades were arranged very close together 
in a line, even overlapping upon each other. They had apparently 
been laid with the best side up. A heavy patina coating of what 
appeared to be burned and carbonized organic matter covered the 
exterior of these blades. 

Dark mixed earth was encountered beneath feature 41. An animal 
burrow, 0.8 foot in diameter, full of light-reddish earth and small 
pebbles entered the western side of the feature. The burrow was 
traced from the top of the mound down to below the yellow loam cap 
into the sterile gravel beneath the mound (fig. 16). 

Feature 42.—Excavation in squares N6W1 and N7W1 disclosed a 
burial at an elevation of 2.6 feet from datum or a depth of 5.0 feet 
from the mound surface at that point. This feature was 2.0 feet in 
diameter. There were no associated artifacts. The remains con- 
sisted of a poorly preserved bundle burial of what appeared to be an 
adult, headed north. The skull was crushed and only a few teeth 
were intact. There were several long bones besides the cranial 
remains. The thickness of the latter suggests a male adult. Four 
tooth crowns were recovered for laboratory identification. These 
are probably upper left Pm2, M1, M2, and M3. There was some 
charcoal and evidence of burning around the burial. One burned 
stone occurred beneath the remains. Dark earth was found 0.15 
foot below the burial. 

Feature 43.—A burial lying in a bed of yellow-brown earth was 
found in square N7E1 at an elevation of 2.4 feet from datum. The 
feature measured 6.0 by 3.0 feet with a thickness of 0.45 foot. It 
consisted of a poorly preserved extended burial headed southeast, and 
funerary material. The over-all length of what remained of the 
skeleton measured 5.4 feet. The skull, lying on its left side, was 
crushed. It faced south. Only the cranium, which was in the better 
condition, and several pieces of the lower limb bones were preserved. 
There were five impressions of a small oblong enclosure or entomb- 
ment found over the burial, indicated by impressions of logs 0.3 foot 
in diameter in a kind of cribwork, and covering the lower portion of 
the body from the midregion to the legs. Identifiable fragments of 
wood were recovered. A tubular stone pipe (pl. 25f) was found 


NO74o), F{? = ADENA MOUND AT NATRIUM—SOLECKI 345 


lying immediately in front of the face. The long axis of the tube was 
parallel to the face. A worked hematite stone lay at the curve of the 
neck and a pile of faceted hematite stones lay 1.0 foot south of the 
jaw. ‘The other associated artifacts were distributed over the lower 
parts of the burial. The specimens recovered include 7 nonferruginous 
stone celts, 3 hematite celts (pl. 26 s, w, x), 2 chert flakes, 14 faceted 
and worked pieces of hematite, 1 hematite hemisphere, 4 complete and 
2 fragmentary projectile points, 1 broken blade and 3 fragmentary 
blades, 1 chert reject, and 1 grooved whetstone. A small quantity of 
red ochre was also obtained. There was an 0.8-foot deposit of burned 
clay one-eighth inch thick on the west side of the burial. The center 
of the burial lay in a shallow depression, the sides being perceptibly 
higher. 

Feature 44.—This feature was excavated in squares NSE1, N8E2, 
N9E1, N9EH2 at an elevation of 2.2 feet from datum. It was 6.0 feet 
long (NW-SE) by 4.5 feet wide (SW-NE) and about 0.05 foot thick. 
The basal layer of the feature, a reddish-brown layer of earth, appeared 
to have three thicknesses. The topmost layer was a thin reddish-brown 
earth layer lying over an orange-yellow deposit less than 0.05 foot 
thick. The latter deposit covered a thin layer of white substance 
which measured less than one-eighth inch in thickness. 

A deposit of cremation remains 0.1 foot thick covering an area of 
0.9 foot in diameter was found in the center of this feature. These 
remains consisted of a mixture of charcoal and many unidentified 
pulverized and charred bone fragments. They were associated with 
two small deposits of red ochre which occurred next to the bones. A 
small celt of nonferruginous stone and about 0.05 foot deposit of 
manganese dioxide were also found adjacent to the bone ashes. Two 
other small deposits of red ochre were found in the burial area, one 
associated with a pop-eyed birdstone (pl. 26d). The latter lay on its 
left side coated on the base with a thin layer of whitish material. 
Between the birdstone and the bone deposit lay a large gabbro celt 
(pl. 26h) and a fragmentary silt-stone hemisphere, both coated on the 
underside with a thin deposit of white matter. One faceted hematite 
stone was also recovered. 

Two feet to the south of the cremation remains was uncovered a 
small deposit of black granular material measuring less than 1 inch in 
diameter. A deposit of white material which may have represented a 
fragmentary hemisphere was found 1.5 feet to the north of the 
cremation. 

All the artifacts were covered with either a reddish or orange- 
yellow matter. A small yellowish deposit of earth was especially 
conspicuous in the southeast quarter of this feature. Underlying this 
burial was a mixture of loose dark earth. 


346 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 151 


Feature 45.—Several poorly preserved bones, all postcranial, 
including the right foot, leg, and right arm of an extended adult 
burial (probably male) were uncovered in square N10E1 between 2.4 
and 1.8 feet above datum elevation. This feature was 5.0 feet long 
(NE-SW) by 1.0 foot wide (SE-NW). It was not ascertainable at 
the time of excavation whether the remains comprised a reburial or 
not. There was no evidence of a pit. The body seemed to have 
rested on the right side with the feet higher than the rest of the body. 
The remains lay in dark earth unassociated with any artifacts. There 
was no evidence of the ribs, vertebrae, pectoral or pelvic girdles. 
Gray soil was found beneath the dark earth. A patch of fire-reddened 
earth was observed 2.5 feet south of this burial at approximately the 
same elevation. 

Feature 46.—Two poorly preserved extended adult burials with an 
accompanying wealth of funerary goods were uncovered in squares 
N8-0, N9-0 at an elevation of 1.8 feet from datum. The burial area 
was oval in outline, measuring 6.0 feet (NW-SE) by 3.5 feet (SW-NE) 
with a thickness of about 0.5 foot. The burials occupied the center 
of this perimeter, alined in a NW-SE direction. They lay in dark 
mixed earth and were headed to the northwest. A covering of bark 
or similar organic matter about one-fourth of an inch thick had ap- 
parently covered the remains. Sections of the former had been pre- 
served by the salts from the associated copper beads. Only the lower 
limb bones or the long bones of the burials were preserved. One 
patella bone was comparatively well preserved. A mass of white 
amorphous lumps were uncovered where the cranium of one of the 
burials should have been. These lumps when examined in the labora- 
tory gave the chemical test for calcium phosphate, an indication of 
bone. Some of the fragments show cortical bone structure under 
magnification, hence we may infer that this also was part of the burial 
proper. . 

The wealth of data may be judged by the enumeration of the follow- 
ing artifacts recovered from this feature: 1 round stone ball (pl. 26e), 
33 bone beads (pl. 25c), 164 copper beads, 2 chert blades, 3 fragmen- 
tary blades, 2 diabase celts (pl. 26 7, 7), 2 hematite celts (pl. 26 ¢, »), 
3 chert drills, 2 fragmentary chert drills, 28 chert flakes, 1 geode paint 
cup, 2 barite hemispheres (pl. 27 h, 7), 1 limestone hemisphere (pl. 277), 
1 grit stone or honing stone, 2 hematite paint stones (1 faceted) (pl. 
27 m,n), 1 broken mussel shell, 1 small lot of shell fragments, 7 un- 
worked sandstone pebbles, 1 silt-stone pebble, 2 stone tubes, 3 grooved 
whetstones and 3 fragmentary whetstones. A quantity of red ochre, 
yellow ochre, a deposit of graphite, and a small patch of white clay 
were also noted. The situation of some of these specimens is given 
in the following feature description. 


No. 401 pap,  ADENA MOUND AT NATRIUM—SOLECKI 347 

The skeletal remains, apparently representing two adults lying side 
by side, were comprised of several poorly preserved lower-limb bones. 
These were found in the southern part of the feature. From the 
position of the long bones, these burials evidently headed northwest. 
The remains of the individual on the right or eastern side of the feature 
were better preserved than those on the left (western) side. Frag- 
ments of five long bones, among which were identified a femur, tibia, 
and fibula, belonged to the burial on the right side. Fragments of 
two unidentifiable long bones were recovered from the burial on the 
left side. At the feet of the former burial was a patch of red ochre and 
a cremation deposit, each lying under the distal ends of the bones. 
The cremation remains gave a very high phosphate test, such as one 
would expect of bone ashes. Several sandstones and a chert blade 
lay close to the feet. Across the knees was a string of bone beads. 
A lump of white clay lay about 1 foot below and to the right of the 
feet. 

Several inches to the north of these skeletal remains were two barite 
hemispheres lying with the convex surfaces up. Close to them was a 
chert blade. 

Lying in about the east-central part of the feature were two celts, 
a small pile of chert flakes, and a fragmentary shell. The latter was 
closely associated with one of the celts. 

A large pipestone tube (pl. 25) was recovered in two pieces about 
1.0 foot to the north and east of the feature’s center. It lay on a 
NW-SE axis with the blocked end to the southeast. A smaller pipe- 
stone tube occurred parallel to it in a similar position, 1.4 feet to the 
west. Some pieces of woody material about 0.05 foot thick were noted 
lying over the stone tubes. 

Two patches of yellow earthy powder, a deposit of graphite, a 
round stone ball, a patch of white chalky substance, a chert blade, 
some shale stones, and a string of copper beads were uncovered in the 
northern part of this feature. Beneath the copper beads was a frag- 
ment of preserved bone stained by copper salts. 

In the southern and western portion of feature 46 was encountered 
a group of nine flat shale stones which lay alined over a human lower- 
limb bone and some smaller bone fragments, the remains of the 
second individual in this grave. A large deposit of red ochre measur- 
ing 1.0 foot in diameter and 0.025 foot thick lay under the stones. 
The ochre was probably responsible for the reddish discoloration of 
the earth around these stones. 

This was no unimportant burial if the wealth of nonperishable 
funerary goods is any indication. The remains lay in a matrix of 
gray soil. No evidence of log tombing or of any structure was noted. 

Dark mixed earth occurred below feature 46. 


348 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL 151 


Feature 47. —An oval-shaped burial feature was unearthed in squares 
N7E3, N7E4, N8E3, N8E4 at an elevation of 1.8 feet. The greatest 
diameter of this feature was 3.0 feet and the major axis was alined in an 
east-west direction. It was about 0.05 foot thick. The skeletal remains 
consisted of what was probably a reburial of the long bones of an 
adult. The bones, poorly preserved, were approximately 1.0 foot 
long. They lay in a thin stratum of brownish organic matter. 
Beneath the skeletal remains were a half handful of 68 small white 
quartz pebbles, the only associated material. These pebbles and 
bones lay to the east of the feature’s center. Two of the pebbles 
were about twice the size of the others. Black mixed earth was found 
below the burial. 

Feature 48—The remains of a poorly preserved adult postcranial 
skeleton were found in squares N9W1, N9W2 at an elevation of 1.4 
feet from datum. The lower-limb bones were among the major items 
recovered. They were found in a feature of somewhat irregular and 
poorly demarcated outline, measuring 2.0 feet (N-S) by 1.3 feet 
(E-W) with a thickness of 1.0 foot. Only traces of the pelvic girdle 
were present, while the pectoral girdle was absent. Some loose soil 
was scooped out of a small hollow where the head may have rested. 
A flint blade was recovered where the left shoulder may have been. 
This burial, lying in a mixture of dark earth, sloped somewhat. Asso- 
ciated artifacts include one fragmentary chert blade, one fragmentary 
faceted stone of hematite, and one small natural geode paint cup. 
The chert blade lay close to one of the bones. 

Feature 49.—Some very fragmentary and poorly preserved long 
bones measuring about 1.0 foot in length were recovered in squares 
N5E1, N6E2 within a triangular bed at an elevation of 1.4 feet from 
datum. The outline of this feature measured 7.0 feet in diameter with 
a maximum thickness of approximately three-fourths of an inch. 
The bones, presumably of an adult, were lying on an east-west axis 
closely associated with a patch of red ochre. The latter deposit lay 
on the northern side of this feature. A string of copper and bone 
beads were recovered 0.25 foot to the west of the bones. Apparently 
the preservation of the skeletal material was due to the salts from the 
copper beads. A three-quarter grooved ax (pl. 26g) was found 
1.0 foot to the north and east of the bones. An almost square depres- 
sion 0.9 by 0.9 and 0.05 foot thick was noted close to the center of this 
feature. The earth in this particular square was somewhat harder 
than the rest of the feature, which was overlaid with an orange- 
colored deposit. The latter’s depth was from about one-fourth to 
one-sixteenth of an inch with a trace of reddish earth or red ochre about 
one-sixteenth inch extending over all. This bed sloped perceptibly to 
the south, or outer edge of the mound. Another group of copper 


No 40). )~=SSC ADENA MOUND AT NATRIUM—SOLECKI 349 


beads, besides those mentioned above, was found in the lower central 
part of this feature arranged in a circle. A small patch of red ochre 
0.1 foot deep, associated with six chert flakes, was uncovered to the 
east of the square depression. A deposit of whitish material was 
gathered from below the red ochre. Enumerating the remainder of 
the artifacts which were recovered from various parts of this feature, 
the total assemblage includes 1 grooved ax, 16 copper beads (2 
strings), 1 fragmentary chert blade, 1 hematite celt (pl. 26u), 1 piece 
of reject chert, 1 flat round sandstone, and 1 ordinary pebble. 

Feature 50.—The* postcranial skeletal remains of an adult were 
found in square N10W1 at an elevation of 1.2 feet from datum, lying in 
an ovate-shaped lens of light-brown earth mixture. This feature 
measured 3.5 feet (N-S) by 1.5 feet (E-W) by 2.0 feet thick. Only 
traces of the upper limbs, the lower limbs, and the vertebrae remained, 
all in a poor state of preservation. There was observed a trace of the 
pelvic girdle. The pectoral girdle was absent. The lumbar vertebrae 
were 1.7 feet lower than the lower-limb bones. There was some 
reddish-brown earth to the left side of the burial. The bones were 
quite badly broken and disturbed by root tendrils. No associated 
artifacts were recovered other than a small natural geode cup stone 
which was found beneath the distal ends of the lower limbs. The 
skeleton was oriented with the head to the north. 

Feature 51.—The poorly preserved cranial remains of an adult 
were found lying under a flat oblong stone in square N12E2 at an 
elevation of 0.5 foot from datum. This feature, measuring 2.5 feet in 
diameter and 0.1 foot thick, was circular in outline. The stone 
superimposed over the skull measured 1.0 by 0.9 by 0.2 foot. The 
burial occurred in a mixture of light-brown earth which contained a 
considerable amount of gravel. Closely associated with the remains 
were 1 barite bead (pl. 25d), 1 chert blade, 1 fragmentary chert 
blade, 2 nonferruginous celts (1 made from a flaked artifact (pl. 267r)), 
1 drill point (pl. 28n’), and 4 projectile points. Feature 51 lay on a 
bed of red-burned earth which in turn lay on the sterile gravel stratum 
at the base of the mound. 

SUMMARY 


The 51 features * found in Natrium Mound ranged in elevations from 
8.4 to 1 foot from datum, or within a concentrational depth of over 
7 feet (fig. 18 A,B). The bottommost feature was No. 28, located 
1 foot above datum. The topmost feature was No. 32, a burial 
uncovered 8.4 feet from datum, or 3.5 feet from the mound surface. 


8 The features were arbitrarily divided into two groups—those lacking skeletal evidence, and those con- 
taining recoverable skelctal data, as mentioned above. 


350 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLL. 151 


The features were largely situated in the “primary mound,” which 
consisted of a number of smaller included mounds in a matrix of dark 
earth. This in turn was capped by a secondary mound composed 
mainly of loose gravelly soil with a few dark earth stains running 
through it. There were fewer occupational evidences in the latter 
mound (figs. 16, 17).° 

The earthwork seems to have been built by increments as the 
burials were added. The featural data conform to a single classifi- 
catory unit, the Adena complex. Therefore we infer that cultural 
stratification other than Adena is not present. 

Features were interspersed throughout the center of the inner 
tumulus with two notably heavier concentrations, one at about 
4 feet from datum, the other between 2 and 3 feet from datum. This 
evidence, indicative of a group deposition of the remains is deduced 
from the field data and notes. It was impossible, because of the 
conditions imposed, to lay bare all the burials, etc., level by level 
over the entire excavation. 

Considering the top of the prepared yellow-soil cover (average 
elevation about 1.3 feet above datum) as the base of the mound, the 
greatest weight of all the features lies somewhere between 2 and 
3 feet above the approximate center of the mound base. The majority 
of the largest and most important features were concentrated near the 
bottom. The greatest concentration of the burials (identified from 
skeletal remains) lay approximately 1 foot above the loam floor, 
decreasing in numbers sharply with increasing height from the base. 
The burial (feature 32), 8.4 feet above the base, is unusual with 
regard to this dispersion. 

Significantly interesting to note, all the features discovered, 
except four (features 5, 36, 42, 48),’° contained observable evidence 
of former fires. Primary indications were patches and lenses of 
red-orange fire-burned earth of a loamy consistency pointing to the 
presence of intense fires. Delimited areas of charcoal, burned gravel, 
and fire-burned stones were secondary in profusion. Many of the 
associated artifacts were fractured or discolored by fire. 

The importance of red ochre to the cultural complex is attested by 
the finding of recoverable quantities of this mineral in a little less 
than one-third of the features. 

A pile of 16 burned and broken stones (feature 8) found about 
12 feet north of the mound center could not be assigned to any par- 
ticular purpose. The pile lay about 2 feet over feature 40. These 
stones may have been related to feature 34, a very productive burial, 
which lay just to the northeast on the same level. 


Not all of the features are shown in the cross sections illustrated. 
10 The latter three features were burials. 


AoTa0)  ~=—s ADENA MOUND AT NATRIUM—SOLECKI 351 


Careful attention was paid by the writer and his assistants to any 
signs of wooden structures, such as post molds. No actual post molds 
were found, other than the probable recent test hole outside the 
mound. There was some evidence of tombing, as in feature 43, 
where indications of a small wooden cribwork were found super- 
imposed over an extended burial. Feature 41 also contained strong 
signs of some kind of entombment and covering. Feature 46 had 
definitely been covered with some kind of organic mantle like skins or 
bark. 

What, perhaps, should have been the most productive feature of all 
(feature 28), the subfloor pit, was actually devoid of skeletal and arti- 
factual remains, with the exception of a single projectile point. 
This pit, which seemed to be not quite long enough for an average- 
size extended burial, should not be confused with the hard, well- 
made clay basins of some mounds. Careful search failed to reveal any 
structural details within or directly outside this feature. Incidentally, 
the latter was situated a little to the east of center. The heavy degree 
of burning indicated and the large amount of ash-gray soil outside the 
pit points to the possibility that it may have been a cremation pit. 
It could have served for such use on successive occasions. 

Caps of ash-gray soil (see Appendix 1 for description) were found 
superimposed over six features (Nos. 20, 30, 34, 40, 41, 43). This 
apparently was not a circumstantial coincidence. The texture of the 
soil resembles ash deposits, presumably the product of cremation fires. 

Twenty of the fifty-one features contained osseous material in 
various stages of preservation, mostly very poor. Some of the burial 
remains were fortuitously preserved, such as copper-stained bones 
from several burials. This would immediately suggest that many of 
the remaining features, in all probability, were also burials from which 
the skeletal matter had since disappeared. It is not improbable that 
the acid nature of the mound had a great deal to do with the poor 
preservation of the skeletal remains. Acid soil of clay" or loamy 
texture is not particularly well adapted to the preservation of bones. 
The better-preserved skeletons at Natrium did not lie immediately 
on the patches of reddened loam ” frequently associated with the 
features. 

Cautiously speaking, one might say that mound burials are usually 
accompanied by burial furniture, with or without red ochre, an ob- 


1! According to pedologists or soil scientists (Kellogg, 1941, pp. 51-52, 71-72), clay has the greatest influence 
on the chemical activity of the soil. Because of its physical characteristics, clay tends to hold and concen- 
trate a reservoir of soluble substances. 

12 These are the deposits which are probably synonymous with the ‘“‘puddled clay’ of Webb and Snow 
(1945, p. 73). Webb and Haag (1947, p. 68) claim that puddled clay when associated with a burial results in 
the total disintegration of the skeletal remains. According to these authors, this is caused by the acidity of 
the clay. 


352 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY (Bunn, 151 


servation strengthened by Webb and Haag’s (1947, p. 68) comments. 
It is unneccessary to state that stone or nonperishable items were not 
the only offerings interred with the burials, since we have distinguished 
the remains of organic substances in several features. Some features 
in the first group (features 1-3, 8-11, 13, 23, 24, 26, 27, 29-31) lacked 
both skeletal material and artifactual data. On the other hand, some 
burial features (features 33, 36, 39, 42, 45, 47) contained no associated 
funerary objects. An exception might be made of feature 47 in 
which a tight clump of 68 pebbles was found. Hence, it is seen that 
we cannot use the criterion of grave goods, in this instance at least, 
to indicate whether we have burials or not. Perhaps the surest 
measure of ascertaining the former presence of burials is by chemical 
tests of the soils. (See Appendix 1.) A very high proportion of bone 
phosphate in a suspected area is a good positive clue to a burial or at 
least osseous matter. 

Not much can be said regarding the physical remains of the Natrium 
Mound dead. The major remains, those identified, seem to be adult 
and male. In all, there were seven partial reburials and bundle 
burials (features 36, 39 [human?], 42, 45, 47, 49); six extended burials 
(features 33, 35, 43, 46, 48, 50) of which features 33, 48, and 50 repre- 
sent postcranial burials; two cremations ™ (features 37, 44) and two 
finds of crania (features 32, 51). Several of the extended skeletons 
were too poorly preserved for detailed study. Feature 48 lay at the 
feet of its neighboring burial, feature 50. There were no flexed 
burials. Some of the noncremated bones had blackened areas or 
spots, which may have been due to one or two causes—extraneous 
conditions imposed by the nature of the soil or the possibility that 
they had been coated with some foreign matter at the time of inter- 
ment. Osseous fragments preserved by copper verdigris were also 
encountered. All of the adult teeth showed indications of heavy 
attrition. The presence of so-called ‘dental pearls’? (Webb and 
Funkhouser, 1930, pp. 215-216), a type of enamel nodule deposited 
near the junction of the roots and crown, was observed on three molars 
from feature 36 and one from feature 43. 

The cremated remains may represent communal deposits of the 
dead while the other burials may have been accorded the honor of 
separate interment. Whether the cremated bones are those of 
defleshed and dried bones or skeletons in the flesh, the writer cannot 
say positively. However, if checking of cremated bones is any sure 
indication of dried and defleshed bones (Webb and Snow, 1945, pp. 
188-189), those examined appear to be defleshed, a circumstance 


18 Five additional features (Nos. 22, 25, 34, 40, 46) were later found to have contained cremated remains. 
These remains, typified as lumps of whitish matter, tested physically and chemically as bone ash. 


No go). )~) « ADENA MOUND AT NATRIUM—SOLECKI 353 


evident both in Hopewell and Adena burial customs. It is more 
frequently found in the former. 

Mention has been made of the erection of small mounds of earth 
over several features. Viewed in horizontal plan, the long axes of the 
burials are oriented roughly parallel to the mound perimeter. 

As a matter of cursory note, burial feature No. 34, containing the 
copper breastplate, appears to be one of the more interesting features 
uncovered (pl. 24h). It was one of the few burials capped with a low 
dome of ash-gray soil. The unusual circumstance was the associa- 
tion of the figurelike arrangement of the copper beads. They were 
undoubtedly draped over the burial in some kind of zoomorphic figure 
which had symbolic meaning. Parallels to this find are not known 
to the writer, although we can draw on similarities from effigy 
mounds, pictographs, etc. The breastplate was apparently one of the 
dominant items in this burial. The textile, a fragment of which was 
preserved under the copper plate, probably extended over the whole 
burial originally. A single piece of copper verdigris-preserved human 
bone and a small patch of bone ashes represent the total osseus 
remains. There appeared to have been a bark mantle covering the 
entire feature. There was no evidence of a prepared tomb construc- 
tion of any kind present. 


THE ARTIFACTS 


INTRODUCTION 


A trait list of the artifacts recovered from Natrium Mound is 
given below and is followed by a description of these specimens. This 
section is divided into five categories. These groupings with the 
included number of specimens are: Polished stone artifacts, 51; 
rough stone artifacts, 66; chipped stone artifacts, 263; copper artifacts, 
709; and miscellaneous artifacts, 152. The latter grouping is a kind 
of catchall. Under these categories are grouped various subdivisions. 
The total artifacts (counting the beads, of which copper beads alone 
number 708 items) amount to 1,241 specimens. No mention can be 
made here of the artifacts supposedly recovered at an earlier date 
from Natrium Mound and in possession of the Arrick family. The 
writer examined several Indian relics which were reputed to have been 
unearthed from the top and side of the mound; but positive identifica- 
tion could not be made by the owner. Because of this uncertainty, 
these specimens are not included in the itemization. 

Following the artifact descriptions is a summary of this section. 


354 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 


ARTIFACTS TRAIT LIST 
Polished stone artifacts: 


Axe’; grooved: 2 50 Skee ee Se ee 
Balls; round (s(Ones . f= Se ees ee et See, ee 
Birdstone see te eo ee en ae Np mend Sees les a ee eee 
Boatstone*éxeavated 00. <Ub2 Set Sed 2 8 See oe ee 


Celts: 
Nonferruginous stone: 


Oblong ipollu<. 22) 4S. eee See 
Rounded pollo << 2°22. 2 se eee. oe 
Pointed*poll!{ £2) 1 2 Ua. Aa eee 


Hematite: 


Oblong, polly 2. 20. 2). Ueso! |. eee oe ee 
Pomted pole 82" no. a ee eee 
Bragmentary--2 22-222). o sea ee eee 


Totalicelts. 2: -2iV ee. Ve be ee eee 


Gorgets: 


Reel-shaned ne oe hn ee 
Pendant 22. ett eee Be ee eee eee 
Semikeeledie 2 ee oe et ee ee ee ee ee ee 


Total: gorgeteses =.= 5 eee ee eee 


Hemispheres: 


HMiem a titese eee ate re Se ee ee ee ee ee 
iBarite Sete Os oe ty. Grr ee aes Pee ee 
Timestones 2 $2.20 ae Se ee eet See eee ee 
Silttstones: 224 2 4453 = f.ns5 Se a od Ste ee 


otal: NemisPheres 52... =e 5 oe ee ee eee 


Pipes: 


Modified tubulars(i-shape): o535. cee lees 2b eee 
Tubular: 2 225228 eA = en ee Fy en 


LOtAL DIDCS casero ee Soe ee oe 


Total polished stone artifacts____-_.--------------- 


Rough stone artifacts: 


Abrading or sinew stones... =-+2-- 52 235 oes 2 ee 
FROWN SCONES 22 2 ad ee ee ee ee ee 
Whetstones or grooved silt stones___-__------------------- 
Péstle-shaped stone 228.2220. 5  Coa ee SOM eS en eee 
Hammerstone (2) ante ielieh pel a eee Teper he pap yee ee Oe at 
Faceted hematite paint stones____---------.=------------- 
Hematite cupstone_-_------------ Pree Mhe Rll cha SA el Sy ot 


‘Total rough stone artifacts vo-< 24a ee Hse = oe eee 


[BuLu. 151 


= — be 


NOHO], {= ADENA MOUND AT NATRIUM—SOLECKI 


ARTIFACTS TRAIT LIST—continued 


Chipped stone artifacts: 
Blades: 


Ovate: base 3 2cc.o2 <2 eee eae lo ee Sat es raps Tage ee 
1 215 ol 0721: a ee ena MEMEMDE fe 11S re SA 2 ou EG WAT TOS 
Stemmedtrectangularibases = se ees Sepa eee. 
Stemmaedovate base: 322 3a. Pee. A Pee ok ee ele 
Hragmentary blades, not! classifiable: <-<¢.2. 24) 7-2 fabe oer es 


otal blades. =< 2-32 et ee ee py tp Dee yey) ete 


Projectile points: 


Hist=stemmed bases 225. 2 ets ae te a ee 
Ovate-stémmed: base’ tan a2 ba aw oe eel A ik ve ody act oe Wis wk tepte 2 
Side=notchedsbase..-:4- 2.4 5. els. 29 eg Bee ee 
Basemotehed so: OU GiSiGe es pe yee ee ee 
Owateibase sos se eee eae cee ae ae ee 
Traneular: crude (reject?) 22. 22 eee AN ee eee 
Brapimentary specinens== {2-4 ie het See Oe eee 


Totalsprojectile*pomtss4 aves . Lb a cris . PAN. eee 


Semapetd= 4.470. seer toll ah sep eT. een Dh ee, wer le Soeyee 


Drills: 


Flat base_____-_-_- 2 a OE Sy ik, A eR ee, Sarena Le eee ee 
Pointedvbasesss 24 s2oa) 22 wae bos £19) UW ee heh ee 
Rounded baseliov gts Wiis sult mater Avast 4th ee eee) 
Rounded-stemmed* base. 2s 6 Sfp. apithew Ek? __ page wae 2 eee 
Hrarmenvary, specimens...) — ia eat pe eS ee 


hotalidrillsteiee- Sst este ee ee REE ee ee Se eee “ee Rs ee ee 


otaliehipped. stone artifactsi0. ols) i)... Bybee es) oie 


Copper artifacts: 
Copper corget, reel-shaped.2-. 262 Die ae. Oe LAs fe eee ee 
Goppen iCaas Jee tt ese teil on a Rel ee ee oh ae an 


Totalicopper artifacts: 6. CP Lk oui Be Soe. Oey Ma 


Miscellaneous artifacts: 
Beads: 


Worked bomessess — = 24s. Sei ae See ee ee ee ee ey ee 
NS Geir CATA TIS sOO be La capt a a ag se att 0 nd ce oe en we te 
Worked piece’ofedaliwit sudie4_ Bit Hark eebh _beliling coliaindat eli 8 


355 


218 


PrenNNNwWN 


3 


me 


—_ 


arene 


1 


ie) 


263 


_ 


708 


709 


356 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Buny. 151 


ARTIFACTS TRAIT LIST—continued 


Miscellaneous artifacts—Continued 


White pebbles. 20... .5. os see ee ee oe 68 
Natural sandstone. pendant. (7)... 2 es ee 1 
Potsherds (Fayette Thick) ...6- 93 Soe eee eS ee 2 
Pottery; odd fragments__._..2.._._ sb ee ee eee 2 
Shells, (worked?)_._..~ ..<--se eee eee ce ee 2 
‘Textileiremains 222 5.252... See 1 eet Gee 1 

Total miscellancousiartifactss 55] oss ee eee 152 

Totaliartifacts.2222-2--s.s262 a5. 58 ceeseee eee 1, 241 


The artifacts in the trait list are discussed in detail under separate 
headings below.’* All the dimensions in the description are given in 
centimeters. 

DESCRIPTION OF ARTIFACTS 


POLISHED STONE 


Grooved stone ax.—One comparatively thick %-grooved ax (pl. 
269) of gabbro was recovered from feature 49. The groove is deep with 
prominent borders or flanges. The ax is 15.4 cm. long and about 85 
percent polished. The butt is rather heavy compared to the bit which 
is tapered. The occurrence of a %-grooved ax in an Adena Mound is 
interesting and appears to represent a new trait item. Webb and 
Haag (1947, p. 100) have listed the fully grooved ax (trait No. 230) 
as a new Adena trait. Griffin (1943, pp. 57-58) notes Putnam’s finds 
of %-grooved axes which the former classifies among Adena-Hopewell 
traits. Grooved axes are rare in Adena and in Ohio-Hopewell. 

Round stone balls.—Two round balls were found associated in two 
Natrium features. One round or imperfectly spherical-shaped ball 
was found in feature 46. This ball (pl. 26e), made of dense stone, 
averages about 3.3 cm. in diameter. Another ball found in feature 20 
is also an imperfectly shaped spheroid. It is about 4.5 cm. in diameter 
and similarly made of dense stone (pl. 26f). 

According to Webb and Snow (1945, p. 88), stone balls are a rare 
Adena trait. 

Effigy birdstone.—A birdstone (pl. 26d) of gray sandstone was 
found in feature 44 in association with cremationremains. The “bird” 
is a conventionalized figure showing the beak, head, and shoulders. 
The eyes are prominently extruded projections with flat surfaces on 
the ends. The diameter of the eyesis1.1cem. The figure has a short, 
thin slit 0.8 em. long for the mouth. The base of the birdstone is a 
well-trimmed ovate platform measuring 7.0 by 4.1 cm. The whole 


4 The artifacts are given Adena trait list numbers as compiled by Webb and Snow (1945) and Webb and 
Haag (1947) in the tabulation entitled “‘Adena Trait List, Natrium Mound” (p. 376). 


AnTHEOP. Par.  ADENA MOUND AT NATRIUM—SOLECKI 357 
bust is 4.5 cm. high. There are two conical perforations drilled at an 
oblique angle from the base end on the long axis. They taper from 0.8 
to 0.4 cm. in diameter. 

This is the first recorded instance of a birdstone, so far as the writer 
knows, which is definitely associated with an Adena Mound. This 
is one of the anomolies which places Natrium Mound out of the ordi- 
nary. A birdstone, itself considered a rarity in West Virginia, was 
found 200 yards north of the Beech Bottom Mound (Bache and Satter- 
thwaite, 1930, p. 144). 

A birdstone, illustrated in Moorehead (1922, ill. p. 189; text p. 136) 
from the Hopewell Mound area in Ross County, Ohio, bears a startling 
resemblance to the Natrium specimen. This poses an interesting 
problem of the cultural affiliations with the Hopewell complex. Bird- 
stones are most numerous in the Ohio Valley, although they occur 
widely over the Northeast in general (Holmes, W. H., in Hodge, 1907, 
pt. 1, p. 148). Webb (Webb and Snow, 1945, p. 216) believes that 
birdstones were among a class of objects used as atlatl weights. 

Boatstone.—A singular type of well-finished steatite boatstone (pl. 
257, 7) was recovered, hollow end down, from feature 21 in association 
with a cache of over 100 chipped blades (pl. 242). It is in the shape of 
a hollow bell, 4.5 by 6.7 cm. across the oval bottom and 5.5 em. high. 
The walls average about 0.3 cm. thick and the depth of the hollow 
from rim to apex is 4.3 cm. There is a shallow groove 0.3 cm. wide 
running over the top of the boatstone on a longitudinal axis which 
terminates in two holes at either end. These holes, 0.5 cm. in diam- 
eter, are located 1.5 cm. from the base of the specimen. The upper 
outside periphery of these two opposing holes is smooth and there is 
some evidence of wear on the lower inside of these apertures. No 
great amount of wear is present on the sides of a central hole which is 
situated about midway on the lateral curving face of the boatstone. 
This hole, also 0.5 cm. in diameter, is 2.6 cm. from the hollow base. 
It is very likely that this object was suspended or tied by a string pass- 
ing through the two opposite holes and fitting in the groove. No pos- 
sible use for the single hole in the face of the boatstone could be deter- 
mined. 

True excavated boatstones do not seem to be recorded heretofore 
for the Adena complex, although Webb and Haag (1947, p. 100) list 
a copper boatstone from the Fisher site. Apparently this negates an 
earlier comment (Webb and Snow, 1945, p. 334) which disclaims the 
presence of boatstones in Adena. 

Holmes and Fowke (in Hodge, 1907, pt. 1, p. 157) illustrate a 
boatstone almost identical to the Natrium Mound specimen. Trem- 
per Mound, which Webb and Snow (1945, p. 213) list on their chart 
as composed of Adena and Hopewell elements—or at the bottom of 


358 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLL. 151 


the Hopewell cultural ladder (Webb and Snow, 1945, p. 140)—con- 
tained several hollowed copper and stone boatstones (Mills, 1916, 
pp. 364-367). Pebbles were contained in the hollows of at least two 
of these objects. 

Boatstones are thought to have been used as weights for atlatls or 
throwing sticks. However, the associated presence of pebbles in the 
hollowed part of these stones (at least in the Tremper Mound boat- 
stones) would seem to pose a difficulty to their use as atlatl weights. 

Celts.—Of the total of 28 celts recovered, there are 19 of non- 
ferruginous stone, commonly gabbro—a nongranitic igneous stone— 
and 9 of hematite (one of the latter is broken). All except one of 
these specimens were found in associated features. 

Nonferruginous stone celts—The 19 nonferruginous stone celts 
range in length from 4.0 to 13.5 cm. or about an average of 8 cm. 
long. Eleven of these celts have square or oblong butt ends (pl. 
26 7 (damaged poll), &, p, g, 7). Five have pointed and semipointed 
ends (pl. 26 h, 7, 0) and three have rounded butts (pl. 26 /, m, n). 
With the exception of three specimens, all the celts were made of 
diabase, principally gabbro stone. Two of the three specimens not of 
gabbro were made of cherty stone. One of the latter had been 
reworked from the midsection of a broken flaked blade (pl. 267). 
The third specimen was made of gneissic stone which had deteriorated 
badly, although there are still some traces of the original polish 
present on some of the unrotted surfaces. Not all the celts of 
diabasic stone were well polished. Five specimens bore only \ to 
% polish. In these cases, the butt ends were left rough-pecked 
(pl. 26 7, &). 

Hematite celts ——One fragmentary celt, consisting of the bit end 
6.5 em. long (pl. 26a’), is included among the collection of nine 
hematite celts (pl. 26s—a’). Among these are seven rectangular and 
oblong polled butts and one pointed poll butt (pl. 262) ranging in 
length from 3.0 to 12.0 cm. with an average length of 5.7 cm. The 
12.0 cm. celt (pl. 26s) is out of the ordinary, since it is 5 cm. longer 
than the next longest specimen. 

Hematite celts constitute nearly one-third of the total number of 
celts recovered, indicating that hematite was a popular material. 
Its strength and durability were probably much in its favor, making 
up in these qualities for the longer length and easier manipulability 
of the commoner nonferruginous stone materials. 

Nonferruginous stone and hematite celts are listed by Webb (Webb 
and Snow, 1945, p. 88) as Adena traits Nos. 123 and 124, respectively. 
It is indicated that rounded pole-end celts are more common on 


No. 40) .)~=—s ADENA MOUND AT NATRIUM—SOLECKI 359 


Adena village sites than other types. Hematite celts, while used by 
the Adena people, are reportedly not as numerous as celts made of 
other stones. 

Gorgets, stone.—Three gorgets of polished stone were found in 
Natrium Mound. These gorgets are reel-shaped, pendant-shaped, 
and semikeel-shaped, respectively (pl. 26 a, b,c). They are described 
in that order. 

The reel-type gorget was found in situ in the general excavation 
of the mound-fill, unassociated with any other remains. It has con- 
cave sides and is made of banded gray slate, well polished all over. 
This artifact is 11.9 by 8.5 cm. across the wings at the greater di- 
mension and 0.65 cm. thick. There are two conical holes drilled from 
one face only (uniconical holes). These holes are 0.7 and 0.75 cm. 
wide, tapering to apertures 0.25 cm. wide. They are 3.7 cm. off center. 

The pendant-shape or suspension type found in feature 25 is made 
of banded gray slate. It is flat and trianguloid in outline with a single 
hole near the apex and expands to a width of 3.6 cm.at the base. Un- 
like the other specimens with drilled holes, these apertures (diameter 
0.55 cm.) were bored from both sides (biconical holes). This gorget 
is 0.9 cm. thick at the central cross section, tapering toward the ends, 
and is well polished and smoothed all over. 

The third gorget—a stray, encountered in the general mound fill 
(N12E2)—is the semikeel-shape gorget. This specimen is made of 
well-polished dark-gray banded slate with two perforations drilled from 
the flat underside. It has a flat rectangular base 9 cm. long by 5.1 cm. 
wide with a convex surface 2.9 cm. high. The holes are uniconical, 
tapering from a diameter of 1.05 cm. at the base to 0.35 cm. at the 
convex surface. 

Gorgets of the type described above are characteristic Adena traits 
listed by Webb (Webb and Snow, 1945, p. 85) as traits 112, 114, 115. 
The uniconical perforation is a particularly important and diagnostic 
Adena trait (ibid. p. 85, trait 116). It is suggested that the reel-shape 
and pendant-shape gorgets are true suspension-type ornaments, while 
the semikeel-shape gorget may be an atlatl weight. Webb (1941, 
pp. 211-212) in discussing reel-shape objects, intimates that the 
simpler shallowly concave-sided stone reel is the earliest of this type. 

Hemispheres.—A total of 11 hemispheres were found, 7 of which 
were of hematite, 2 of barite, 1 of limestone, and 1 of silt stone. One 
possible hemisphere of soft white material also occurred. They have 
either rounded or ovate basal perimeters which are a little over 4 cm. 
in diameter. The heights of these specimens range between 2.4 and 
3.0 cm. 


909871—52 24 


360 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLL. 151 


Descriptions of the hematite and barite hemispheres follow: 


Hematite hemispheres: 

Feature 20.—One conical hemisphere (pl: 271), well smoothed and 
finished. It is flat-bottomed, 4.2 cm. in diameter and 2.4 cm. high. 

Feature 25.—Four ovate, flat-bottomed specimens, well finished all 
over. One hemisphere has charred textile remains adhering to the 
base. The dimensions given in the following tabulation are the heights 
and the maximum and minimum basal diameters, in that order: 

Specimen (a)—3.0 by 5.2 by 4.4 cm. 

Specimen (b)—2.8 by 5.0 by 4.3 em. 

Specimen (c)—3.0 by 4.5 by 3.7 cm. 

Specimen (d)—2.8 by 5.2 by 4.2 em. 

These artifacts were found lying close together, convex side up. 

Feature 40.—One specimen, 4.8 cm. in basal diameter and 2.4 cm. 
high. It is well finished all over (pl. 27k). There is a concavity on 
the under side 0.6 cm. deep and 3.1 cm. across. It was lying with the 
concave side up. This was the only concave-bottomed hemisphere 
recovered and the only one found with bottom up. 

Feature 43.—One specimen, 4.3 cm. in basal diameter and 2.5 cm. 
high. It is moderately rounded at the top and well polished. The 
bottom is flat. 

Barite hemispheres—Two barite hemispheres (pl. 27 h, 7) occurred 
in association with a burial, feature 46. The base of a chert blade was 
closely associated with them. ‘The hemispheres are especially well 
polished and trimmed with plano-convex shapes. Both are ivory 
white in color, bearing a few yellowish-brown specks and discolorations. 
The dimensions are as follows: 4.7 cm. diameter by 2.5 cm. high; 4.2 
cm. diameter by 2.7 cm. high. The former has a more circular basal 
perimeter and a rounded surface, while the latter’s perimeter is 
somewhat ovate with a more pointed top. 

Limestone hemisphere-—A badly rotted limestone hemisphere 
(pl. 277), its convex side up, was found associated in the same burial 
above (feature 46) resting on some bones. Fragments of a flat bone, 
which evidently had completely covered the under side of the hemi- 
sphere, clung to its flat bottom. It is 2.5 cm. high and 3.8 cm. in 
diameter with a shape that is like that of half an egg. 

Silt-stone hemisphere-—Another hemisphere of fragmentary, almost 
claylike-textured silt stone occurred in the feature 44. This hemi- 
sphere was practically disintegrated, leaving only a few measurable 
fragments. It originally had been 3.5 cm. in diameter and over 
2 cm. high, so far as could be determined. It lay with the rounded 
surface up. 

A white deposit of material meee representing a flattened rounded 
pellet or possible hemisphere, 3.7 cm. in diameter and 1.8 cm. thick, 


AnTHGoP. Par.  ADENA MOUND AT NATRIUM—SOLECKI 361 


was found associated with the same feature. Its principal constituent 
appears to be a material high in calcium and phosphate. 

Hemispheres occur as an Adena trait in various materials, including 
limestone, sandstone, barite, basalt, and hematite. The latter, accord- 
ing to Webb and Snow (1945, p. 89), are not very frequently found. 
They are considered to be rubbing or polishing stones or even abrading 
stones (Hermann, 1948, pp. 328, 332). Certainly all those recovered 
in the Natrium Mound have been considerably well polished and care- 
fully shaped. It does not seem probable that such well-trimmed ob- 
jects were used as utilitarian pieces, especially in the presence of 
cruder objects which could have served the same supposed purpose. 
However, no alternate possibility can be offered for their use. 

The measurements given for the specimens above are average for 
this group of items. The occurrence of so many hemispheres in one 
mound is singularly interesting. 

Pipes.—Four stone pipes, including one modified and three tubular 
pipes, were recovered. 

Modtfied tubular pipe.—A light-tan, fine-grained sandstone T-shaped 
pipe (pl. 25k) was found in feature 41 associated with other burial 
goods. It is smoothed but not well polished. There are two parts 
to the pipe, a somewhat curved barrel 14 cm. long drilled for the bowl 
to a depth of 8 cm. where the mouthpiece—a tapered platform 
appendage—meets it. The mouthpiece is 3.2 cm. at the broadest 
width and 5.5 cm. long (the latter measurement to the bowl’s center). 
The stem hole, of slightly ovoid shape, is 0.7 cm. in diameter. The 
barrel measures 1.4 cm. on the inside diameter and 2.0 cm. on the 
outside diameter at the mouth. 

This type of pipe is commonly called the ‘‘modified tubular pipe.” 
A similar modified tubular pipe with a flattened mouthpiece illustrated 
by Mills (1916, p. 362, fig. 89) was recovered from a Hopewell 
(Tremper) Mound which Webb (Webb and Snow, 1945, pp. 140, 196, 
214-215) postulates as an ‘early’? Hopewell site. It may have been 
partly contemporaneous with Adena sites. This mound yielded a 
large and important collection of typical Ohio Hopewell platform and 
effigy pipes, placing the finding of the lone modified tubular pipe in an 
anomalous position.!® According to Mills (1916, p. 362) this specimen 
was part of another contemporaneous culture, which he wrongly 
designated as Fort Ancient (Webb and Haag, 1947, pp. 89-95). The 
modified tubular pipe is noted by the same authors (ibid. p. 100, 
trait No. 219) as an item ‘‘not heretofore listed’? as an Adena trait. 
The Fisher site was declared to be a late Adena site by the above 


1b Tt seems to the writer that but little modification would be necessary to turn the modified tubular pipe 
into the true platform type pipe. 
16 Three tubular pipes also occurred in the Tremper Mound. 


362 BUREAU OF AMERICAN BTHNOLOGY [Bunt, 151 


authors, thus specifically indicating the relationship of the modified 
tubular pipe. 

Tubular pipes——Three polished-stone tubes of the flat-based or 
blocked-end kind were found with associated remains at Natrium. 
All the tubes are of gray pipestone, commonly called Ohio pipestone 
or Ohio fire clay. They are of varying shades of light-gray color with 
interspersed speckling of white. All the tubes were exceedingly well 
finished, and it is obvious that especial care had been taken in their 
manufacture. The final polish was applied longitudinally, as indicated 
by the finish streaks. The largest of the tubes was broken when found 
in place, indicating perhaps that the breakage had occurred at the 
time of interment. Each one of the pipes has patches of dark stains 
or clots which are unevenly distributed on the surfaces. These dis- 
colorations may have come about from the minerals in solution in the 
soil, or from the nature of the presumably associated—and since 
deteriorated or decayed—matter. Two of the pipes contained small 
pebbles about the size of large peas. It is not certain exactly how deep 
within the tubes these pebbles occurred, but they were originally 
well within the bores. Both of these pellets were of stone, one a well- 
worn quartz pebble; the other, of rough granular sandstone. The 
reason for their association is not known to the writer. The contents 
of each of these pipes was a dark sand containing small flecks of what 
proved to be burned carbonaceous matter.” Two of the tubes are 
moderately blackened on the inside while a third shows little dis- 
coloration. Each of the specimens exhibits circular striae on the 
inside derived from the scoring action of the borer. The holes at the 
base end are somewhat off center, suggesting that the position of the 
hole at the blocked end was determined by the course of the boring 
from the mouth to the base. The finishing touch of these apertures 
was performed at the base end once the barrel hole had been pierced 
through. 

The pipe measurements are as follows: Specimen from feature 43 
(pl. 25f) is 14.5 em. long, 2.5 em. in diameter at the mouth, 2.4 cm. 
in diameter at the middle and 3.3 cm. in diameter at the base. On 
the inside dimensions it is 1.8 cm. in diameter at the mouth and 0.65 
cm. in diameter at the basal hole. There is approximately a 0.15-cm. 
thickness of brown crust at the basal end. This pipe had a quartz 
stone pellet (pl. 25g) init. The exact positioning of the pellet within 
the tube was uncertain upon discovery. It seemed to have come from 
well inside the pipe, associated with the sand and carbon particles. 

The large tube from feature 46 is 31.0 cm. long (pl. 25h). Its out- 
side diameters at the mouth, middle, and basal sections are 2.8, 3.0, 


17 Tests made on samples of this matter by the Federal Bureau of Investigation did not yield any conclu- 
sive evidence (letter July 21, 1950). 


Ho 204 Par. ADENA MOUND AT NATRIUM—SOLECKI 363 


and 3.8 cm. respectively. Its inside diameters are 1.8 and 0.5 cm. 
at the mouth and basal hole. This pipe had a burned pebble of 
sandstone in it. The pellet came from well within the pipe. Another 
tube, 22.5 cm. long, from the same feature measures 2.6, 2.0, and 3.5 
cm. on the outside diameters of the mouth, middle, and basal sections. 
It measures 2.0 and 0.7 cm. on the inside diameters at the mouth and 
basal holes. No foreign matter other than charred matter and sand 
was found inside the bore. 

The chemical composition of the stone material is presumably 
identical with that given by Mills (1916, pp. 290-291) for the Ohio 
fire-clay tubes. 

The writer is inclined to accept Bache and Satterthwaite’s (1930, 
pp. 152-154) conclusions that these pipes were probably used for 
ceremonial smoking. Kercher (1949, p. 62) also believes that at least 
one of the tubular clay pipes which he reports was used for smoking. 
Webb (Webb and Snow, 1945, pp. 86, 334) casts doubt upon the use 
of stone tubes for smoking purposes, seeming more inclined to accept 
them as shaman medicine tubes. 

The tubes for Kentucky illustrated by Webb (1940, fig. 34, p. 56) 
have tapered or beveled mouthpieces, quite unlike the majority of 
those found at the Beech Bottom Mound (Bache and Satterthwaite, 
1930, pls. 8, 9, 10, 16, 17), which are like the Natrium Mound finds. 
These pipes have flat-based mouth ends, of which some are flared. 
The materials used are also Ohio pipestone. The technique of manu- 
facture of the Natrium Mound tubes agrees with that described by 
Bache and Satterthwaite (1930, p. 152). 


ROUGH STONE 


Honing stones and abrading or sinew stones.—Seven stones 
which may be classified as honing stones (pl. 27 c, d, e) were recovered 
from feature 46 and three sinew stones or abrading stones were found in 
features 35, 40, and 46 (one in each). The honing stones are handy- 
sized flat pieces of natural standstone, which exhibit signs of attrition 
or wear on one or more surfaces and on the ends. These stones are 
not to be confused with the whetstones, since they do not bear the 
grooves of the latter. Neither are they of the same composition, since 
the honing stones are of more gritty sandstone while the whetstones 
are of finer silt stone. Although honing stones are not unusual as a 
class of utilitarian artifacts, their occurrence in a mound associated 
with a burial is apparently out of the ordinary. 

The abrading or sinew stones are of light-tan-colored, fine sand- 
stone. Edges of the sinew stone from feature 35 (pl. 27a) bears 
especially deep cuts, one of which cuts the long axis of the specimen 
on both sides. The stones from features 35 and 40 have cut marks 


364 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLy. 151 


on both surfaces while the abrading stone from feature 46 (pl. 276) is 
cut on one side only. These marks are especially deep at the perim- 
eters. 

Documentation of finds of these objects is poorly represented. 
It is probable that many of these artifacts were lumped in the whet- 
stone category. Webb and Snow (1945, p. 89) list trait No. 127 as 
“abrading stones,” which presumably includes the objects described 
above. 

Whetstones or grooved silt stones.—Thirteen so-called whet- 
stones or grooved tablets were found associated with other featural 
material in the mound. Broken or fragmentary whetstones are the rule 
rather than the exception. All the tablets, which are made of silt 
stone, are flat, and approximately palm-size, apparently for easy 
handling. They have one or more grooves worn on either one or 
both faces. The grooves average about 5.0 cm. long by 0.8 em. wide 
by 0.15 cm. deep. They are shaped like shallow troughs. 

Experiment with some of the smaller hematite celts showed that 
they fitted in the grooves very well when held sideways on the long 
axis. This suggested the possibility that these silt stones may have 
been used as shaping stones for hematite celts. Further examination 
of the shallow troughs disclosed that some of them had at least one 
end which is prowlike in shape. This may have come about from the 
bit end of the celt breaking the softer edge of the silt stone as the 
ferrous stone was rubbed back and forth in the groove. One specimen 
(pl. 27f) found in feature 35 throws additional light on the use of these 
grooved silt stones. This artifact was recovered with an associated 
faceted hematite stone in situ in one of the grooves. Not only does 
this piece of hematite (3.8 cm. long by 0.9 cm. wide) fit its groove, but 
it may be juxtaposed into the four other grooves on the same face of 
the stone. The facets of this oblong hematite piece may be fitted 
equally well into the four grooves on the opposite side of the silt stone. 
There are traces of brown hematite rubbings on the latter artifact. 
The origin of these rubbings is obvious enough. However, in addition 
there are some red ochre stains on the stone (none in the grooves) 
which seems significant. Trial shows that the hematite when rubbed 
on the silt stone gives a brownish deposit, not the bright red of the 
ochre powder so abundant throughout the mound (see red ochre 
under Analyses of Soil Samples and Mineral Materials in Appendix 1). 

A grooved silt-stone tablet which occurred in feature 46 was par- 
tially covered on one side with a thick coating of sulfur-colored, 
claylike material. This material had a lumpy texture, and looked as 
though it had been once of pastelike consistency. It is possible that 
it had been worked on the grooved stone. Two other grooved silt 
stones bear an association to other foreign material in this category. 


No uo); «© ADENA MOUND AT NATRIUM—SOLECKI 365 


One from feature 32 (pl. 279) is partially encrusted on its top surface 
with about a 0.1 cm. thickness of black granular matter, an organic 
residue, which seems to be a product of combustion. Another grooved 
silt stone found in feature 40, was recovered also in situ partially 
covered with a heavy thickness of crumbly white substance. This 
coating, which showed the effects of intense heat, proved to be very 
high in phosphate content, indicating that it was probably bone ash 
or cremation residue. Microscopic examination showing particles 
and casts of boney spicules confirmed this. 

Grooved tablets '® are supposed to have been commonly used in 
the manufacture of bone implements like bone awls, and in the shap- 
ing or sharpening of heavier stone items. The functional possibili- 
ties for this class of objects other than as whetstones should not be 
overlooked. The fortunate discovery of the faceted hematite stone 
associated with the grooved silt stone suggests that other similarly 
grooved stones may also have been used in the reduction of paints. 

Pecking stones and hammer stones.—One large burned sand- 
stone cobble found in the mound fill (square N10E1) shows evidence 
of battering on the ends, which may indicate its former use as a ham- 
mer stone. Feature 7 yielded one interesting sandstone pebble with 
a pestlelike shape. It is 11.7 cm. long, 3.5 cm. thick, and has some- 
what pointed ends. Indications of wear by abrasion and attrition 
are not very conspicuously marked on this specimen. 

These stones are listed by Webb and Snow (1945, pp. 88, 89) as 
Adena trait No. 126. 

Faceted hermatite stones.'—Forty pieces of worked and faceted 
hematite stones were found in eight of the mound features. These 
specimens are identified by provenience and are described as follows: 

Feature 25.—Two faceted lumps of hematite. 

Feature 85.—One roughly worked piece of hematite, two irregu- 
larly faceted lumps, and one oblong-faceted piece of eee The 
latter was found in one of the grooves of a whetstone. 

Feature 37.—One angular-faceted lump of hematite. 

Feature 41.—Sixteen angular and irregular pieces of hematite, all 
showing usage on one or more surfaces in weak to moderate amounts. 

Feature 43.—Eleven angular fragments of hematite showing slight 
to moderate wear by rubbing and three lumps of ferruginous stone 
which have been battered and worn by attrition. 

Feature 44.—One faceted piece of hematite. 

Feature 46.—One faceted chunk of hematite. 

Feature 48.—One faceted piece of hematite. 

Inspection reveals that these ferruginous stone fragments may be 
roughly grouped into four categories, depending on the amount and 


18 These tablets should not be confused with engraved tablets (Webb and Snow, 1945, pp. 91-96). 


366 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLL. 151 


kind of usage. Two of the more heavily rubbed stones are illustrated 
(pl. 27 f, m). The next in order (pl. 270), are angular specimens 
showing heavy rubbing on only one side. Rectangular chunks of 
hematite with fair to moderate amounts of usage (pl. 27p) are followed 
by irregular lumps (pl. 27q), which shows marks of hammer blows. 
One specimen (not illustrated) seems to have been blocked out as a 
hemisphere. 

These faceted and battered hematite stones were undoubtedly used 
for the derivation of powder for paint. Mention already has been 
made of the oblong-faceted stone found directly associated with a 
grooved silt stone. Hematite hemispheres, which are well-finished 
objects, are apparently in a class by themselves, and should not be 
included in the same category as these purely utilitarian rubbing 
stones. The latter are certainly not as specialized in form as the 
hemispheres, which may have been nonutilitarian in function, 
although this cannot be proved. 

As a matter of cursory interest, these ferruginous stone objects fall 
well within the range of Moorehead’s (1912, p. 69, fig. 1) distribution 
of hematite artifacts. Triangular and irregular fragments of worked 
hematite are generally found throughout the Ohio Valley. Hematite 
does not appear to be an abundant trait of the Hopewell culture, as 
pointed out by Moorehead (1912, p. 92). Webb and Snow (1945) do 
not mention these artifacts anywhere in their list of Adena traits other 
than referring to the hematite hemispheres (ibid., p. 89). 

Cupstones.—One limonite cupstone (pl. 277) was recovered in fea- 
ture 46. This specimen is of natural origin, with no observable marks 
other than a slight smoothing of the lip to indicate further adaptation. 
Other naturally formed stones of ferruginous origin were recovered in 
features 4, 48, and 50. 


CHIPPED STONE 


In the chipped-stone category, there are 263 whole and fragmentary 
specimens, including 218 blades or knives, 31 projectile points, 13 
drills, and 1 scraper. All except 12 of these artifacts were found in 
association with the various mound features. The materials range in 
color from a light-tan chert through degrees of browns, grays, and 
ereens to black. The typical material represented is a rather dull, 
light-tan-colored chert. 

Knives or blades.—The workmanship of this group seems to fall 
into two categories of finish and flaking perfection. The preponderant 
number, probably blanks, seem to have been almost carelessly chipped 
with no especial excellence to be noted. A minority of the blades, the 
larger ones, exhibit more perfection aud care in the chipping technique. 


19 Plate 27, figures m, n, illustrates the obverse and reverse sides of the same object. 


No do), S| = ADENA MOUND AT NATRIUM—SOLECKI 367 


The greater majority of the former blades appear to be almost 
uniform in shape, size, and material. Even the workmanship has a 
degree of sameness about it. A cache of 109 blades recovered from 
feature 21 is an example. Apparently they were manufactured, 
perhaps in haste, solely for the occasion, since the primary and second- 
ary flaking is of an unusually crude quality (pl. 28 h, j-0). The 
under side of many of the cruder specimens exhibits the curvature and 
imperfections of the original spall. 

Four types of bases may be differentiated among the blades, serving 
as distinguishing criteria for comparison purposes. The type bases 
are: (1) The round or ovate base, which gives the blade a leaf-shape 
or ovate appearance (pl. 28 a-j, n, 0), (2) the flat base which gives 
the blade a trianguloid effect (pl. 28 k—m), (8) blades with flat-based, 
straight-sided stems (pl. 28 p, g), and (4) blades with round or ovate- 
based stems (pl. 28 r-w). An examination of blade types discloses 
that 139 of the total have rounded bases or an oval-leaf shape. In 
decreasing frequency there are 57 flat-based or trianguloid-shape 
blades, 9 flat-based stemmed blades, and 8 round or ovate-based 
stemmed blades. Fragmentary specimens such as midsections natur- 
ally could not be included in this typological analysis. 

The blades range in length from 6.8 to 22 cm. (pl. 28u). The 
average length is closer to the lower figure, between 9 or 10 cm. long. 
Thirty-eight blades are over 12 cm. long, and of these, 14 are about 
14 cm. in length (the latter blades occurred in one cache in feature 22). 
Maximum blade breadths vary from 2.5 to 5 cm., with an average 
close to4 cm. wide. They are lenticular in cross section, ranging from 
0.6 to 1.4 cm. thick, with an average of about 1.0 cm. thickness. 

As noted in the descriptions of the mound features, many of the 
associated blades and knives show evidence of having been subjected 
to fire. Physical changes resulting from the burning are shown by 
some discoloration of the specimens, such as chalky areas on an other- 
wise tough brittle surface, and surface patches of black tarlike organic 
matter up to 0.1 cm. thick. This latter substance is characterized 
by a series of linear impressions like that left by bark or similar 
material, perhaps part of a covering. Several of the blades have been 
fractured, evidently by intense heat. 

Blades were found heavily coated with red ochre in three features 
(features 4, 22, 25). In feature 4 these artifacts were lying in such a 
thick deposit of red ochre that it had to be brushed away in order to 
expose the blades. 

Leaf-shape blades or knives are very abundant in the Adena complex 
and blade caches are not out of the ordinary (Webb and Snow, 1945, 
pp. 82-83). Leaf- or ovate-shape blades are most common at 
Natrium, which conforms with a typical Adena trait. It is interesting 


368 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bunn. 151 


to compare the large group of blades found at Beech Bottom Mound 
with the Natrium Mound specimens. Representatives of every one 
of the blades illustrated in the Beech Bottom report (Bache and 
Satterthwaite, 1930) may be found in the Natrium collection. In 
addition, there are some flaked specimens from the Natrium Mound 
which are not duplicated at Beech Bottom. The characteristic blade 
type at both sites is the leaf or ovateshape. However, the rounded- 
stemmed base blade, which is the second type in frequency at Beech 
Bottom, is poorly represented at Natrium. The trianguloid (flat- 
base type) blade is not represented at Beech Bottom. The signifi- 
cance of this is not known. The Beech Bottom Mound was only 
partially dug, which could allow for this difference in artifactual 
representation. 

Projectile points.—There are 31 flaked artifacts classified as pro- 
jectile points in the collection. Six specimens of the total are fragmen- 
tary or broken. With the exception of three projectile points, all were 
found in association with other aboriginal remains. Of the three speci- 
mens mentioned, one is fragmentary and the other (triangular) is of 
extremely crude workmanship. 

The projectile points range in lengths from 3.6 cm. to 7.8 cm., the 
majority falling between 4.5 to 6.0 cm. long. In the order of their 
frequency, 27 of the points may be categorized in the following types: 
Flat-stemmed base, 17 (pl. 286’-/’) ; ovate-stemmed base, 3 (pl. 28 a, y); 
side-notched stem, 2 (pl. 28g’); stem notched on one side, 2 (pl. 282); 
ovate, 2 (pl. 28a’); triangular (crude), 1 (pl. 28h’). They are lenticular 
in cross section, averaging about 0.8 cm. at the maximum thickness. 
The crude triangular point and the points notched on one side are 
probably accidents of workmanship. 

The material is of the same range of cherts used in the manufacture 
of the blades. The colors are dull, varying from light tan through 
browns and grays, to black. 

There is nothing unusual in these types (disregarding the probable 
accidents of workmanship) since they are well represented in the 
Adena complex. The stemmed (parallel sides) projectile point is 
recognized as the most common Adena point. It is usually large and 
heavy. 

Scrapers.—Only one stone scraper, associated with other goods in 
feature 20, was found in Natrium Mound. It is 6.3 em. long and 2.4 
cm. wide, and of light-colored chert similar to Flint Ridge flint. This 
specimen was originally a large flake with approximately parallel sides 
tapering toward the butt end. Inspection shows that the distal end 
was use-retouched. The scraper is somewhat discolored by traces of 
clinging red ochre which originally covered it. 

This type of flaked implement is a common Adena trait. 


NO uO) )6—s ADENA MOUND AT NATRIUM—SOLECKI 369 


Stone drills.—In the collection there are a total of 13 chipped-stone 
drills of which 5 are broken or fragmentary. The colors of these chert 
specimens range from light milky-pink to black. They range in length 
from 4.7 to 19.8 cm. The drills may be classified according to four 
distinctive base types, viz: (1) Flat base—4 specimens (pl. 287’, 1’, m’) ; 
(2) pointed base—2 specimens (pl. 28 n’, 0’); (3) rounded-stem base— 
1 specimen (pl. 28k’); (4) rounded base—1 specimen (pl. 282’). With 
the exception of the two pointed-base specimens which are almost 
rhomboidal when viewed endwise, all the drills are lenticular in cross 
section. 

Three of the drills show decided wear and polish from attrition to the 
point end. Presumably these drills were used for the boring of the 
tubular pipes and other stone objects. 

Stone drills of the types described above may be duplicated from 


other Adena sites. 
COPPER 


Copper reel gorget or breastplate.—A copper reel-shaped gorget 
(pl. 25a) was found associated with a piece of woven fabric (pl. 256) in 
feature 34. The textile remains were discovered under the gorget, 
preserved by the copper salts. It is described under the category, 
“Textile Remains.” 

The copper gorget is slightly convex with two holes bored near the 
center. The convex side was found facing upward. It is 14.2 by 10.1 
cm. across the wings and averages a little over 0.1 em. thick. The two 
center holes—0.4 cm. in diameter and 3.7 cm. apart—were drilled 
from the convex surface only. These holes do not show any wear at 
the edges, such as one would expect if the gorget had been suspended 
by the holes for any length of time. 

Webb and Haag (1947, p. 100) list copper gorgets as a trait (No. 221) 
not heretofore acknowledged as belonging to Adena. 

In the diagrammatic representation of the outline forms of the reels 
by Webb (1941, p. 208), this copper reel falls in the simplest category. 
It is likely that this particular reel shape was copied after the earlier 
stone pattern (Webb, 1941, pp. 213-215). 

Copper beads.—All the 708 copper beads were found in strings 
associated with other remains in nine of the mound features. Fre- 
quently the string holding the beads together was preserved by the 
salts emanating from the copper. Some of the beads were badly 
corroded and cemented together. Occasionally a fragment of bone 
from a burial was also preserved in a feature otherwise barren of 
skeletal material. 

On the basis of dimensional sizes, at least nine size types (pl. 25e, 
upper) may be segregated. As many as three bead sizes occurred in 
afeature. The beads ranged from 0.2 to 2.1 cm. in length and from 0.2 


370 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 151 


to 1.0 cm. in width (outside diameter). The holes ranged from 0.1 cm. 
in diameter to 0.5 cm. The largest and heaviest beads recovered 
were found in feature 34, represented by 60 beads of a string of 169. 
These beads were quite thick and solid with somewhat bulged sides. 
They average 1.0 cm. wide with holes of 0.5 cm. in inside diameter, 
and 0.6 cm. in length. The smallest beads were recovered in a string 
of 61 beads from feature 38. These average 0.2 cm. wide with holes 
of 0.1 cm. in diameter. They were 0.2 cm. in length. With the 
exception of some long beads, the rest of these artifacts range between 
these extremes, width and length matching within 0.1 cm. and the 
wall thickness measuring from 0.05 to 0.1 em. The exceptional beads 
mentioned are from a string of long beads recovered from feature 41. 
They are 2.1 cm. long, with an outside diameter of 0.65 cm. and a 
hole diameter of 0.4 cm. The ends, viewed in cross section, are well 
overlapped; the sides are flat and the orifices are oblong or somewhat 
squared. 

The copper beads in the Natrium collection show as much as a 
quarter circumference of overlap. Each bead apparently had been 
smoothed and the rough edges had been ground down. As a final 
touch, the beads were placed on an anvil with the hole flat and beaten 
just enough to bulge the sides. Naturally, since the aboriginal copper 
worker did not have any stamp or die from which to blueprint and 
reproduce his bead, each of these had to be individually and pains- 
takingly manufactured. 

Webb and Snow (1945, pp. 99-100), who list copper beads as Adena 
trait No. 181, claim that sheet copper was rolled into hollow cylinders 
and cut into varying bead lengths from ‘0.25 inch to 1.5 inches.’ 
Presumably the bead sections were cut with stone saws, evidence of 
which was not found in the mound. While this process of manufacture 
from large, rolled sheets may have been used in some cases, the writer, 
after a study of the Natrium beads, is inclined to accept Bache and 
Satterthwaite’s (1930, p. 14) assumption that in this case the beads 
were made “. . . by rolling strips of thin copper of the desired size.” 

The copper beads, according to a sample study made by Dr. George 
Ellinger of the National Bureau of Standards,” were not cold-worked 
as commonly supposed. They were manufactured over a range of 
moderately elevated temperatures, as indicated by metallographic and 
metallurgical study. That the archeologist will have to reorient his 
thinking about primitive American copper work is a conclusion also 
drawn previously by Wilson and Sayre (1935, pp. 109-112). 


20 Dr. Ellinger’s report is given in Appendix 2. 


No. 40). =) « ADENA MOUND AT NATRIUM—SOLECKI ort 


MISCELLANEOUS 
Beads: 


Bone beads.—Bone beads, relatively scarce in the Adena complex, 
are represented from Natrium Mound by a string of 33 disk beads 
(pl. 25c) recovered from across the knees of a burial in feature 46. 
These beads, very crumbly and poorly preserved, were made of flat, 
smoothed bone, presumably of mammal. The average bead is 1.6 cm. 
in diameter and 0.3 cm. thick. The circumferences are not perfectly 
circular, and the thicknesses range between 0.2 and 0.4 cm. The 
holes, which are often slightly ovoid in shape, appear to have been 
bored from both sides. Their diameters are slightly over 0.4 cm. 
and less than 0.5 cm. 

Bone beads are an Adena trait (No. 160) according to Webb and 
Snow (1945, p. 96). 

Pearl and shell beads Thirty-six pearl and two shell beads were 
found draped over a Natrium Mound burial (feature 40). These 
beads are represented by six dimensional sizes as listed below. All 
were drilled from both sides. These beads were strung on the same 
cord with copper beads (pl. 25e, lower). The copper salts from the 
latter stained the outer surfaces of these beads. 


TABLE 1.—Beads from a Natrium Mound burial 


Number of Outside Diameter Thickness or 
beads diameter of holes median length 
Cm. Cn. Cm. 
3 0.9 0.4 0.8 
10 .8 .3 .6 
6 .8 .4 .4 
12 5 .2 5 
5 4 720 45 
2 sii 4 2.4 


The first five dimensional sizes of beads, round and flattened-round 
beads, were apparently made from fresh-water Unio pearls. They 
present a range of diameters from 0.4 to 0.9 ecm. with a thickness of 
0.4 to 0.8 cm. The last group of 2 beads of the tubular type were 
made from the columella of large, unidentified marine gastropod 
shells. All the beads are fair in preservation, although a few are 
badly exfoliated and partially disintegrated. 

Pearl beads are quite rare in the Adena complex. Columnar or 
tubular shell beads made from the columella of large gastropods are 
more frequently encountered in burial associations (Webb and Snow, 
1945, p. 99). 


Sie BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bunn 151 


Barite bead.—One barite bead (pl. 25d) was recovered from feature 
51. This bead is a flat circular disk perforated from both sides. Its 
diameter is 1.7 cm. It is of uneven thickness, varying between ex- 
tremes of 0.2 and 0.7 cm. The hole, imperfectly drilled and centered, 
is 0.5 cm. in diameter. Barite beads are apparently a new Adena 
trait, although Webb and Snow (1945, p. 90, trait No. 136) note that 
there have been aboriginal attempts to make beads of barite. 

Worked bones.—A fragment 10.3 cm. long and 2.4 cm. wide of 
worked mammal bone was found associated with feature 46, a burial. 
This piece, 0.6 cm. thick, is plano-convex in cross section. Both ends 
of this object have been broken. One end narrows somewhat, as 
though for a point. Despite the checks and condition of poor preser- 
vation, it is evident that the bone had been well finished, judging from 
the polish on the surfaces. There is a small area of red ochrelike 
stain on the flat undersurface. An over-all patchy discoloration of 
black matter is also present. The origin of the latter was not ascer- 
tained. 

Another worked-bone artifact, represented by a small handful of 
extremely brittle bone fragments, was found in association with 
feature 35, a burial. Three sections of the specimen total 10 cm. in 
length when pieced together. Two fragments show polish. Since 
the condition of the specimen is so fragmentary, there is some question 
regarding its form and probable use. 

Bear canine tooth.—One fragmentary bear canine tooth was found 
associated with a cache of blades in feature 21. This tooth fragment, 
a little over 2 cm. long, represents the crown only. Unfortunately, no 
evidence of work can be discerned on it. However, its presence is 
significant since Webb and Snow (1945, p. 334) claim that no per- 
forated or cut animal teeth are found in the Adena complex. 

Worked coal.—A rectangular piece of hard coal, 1.5 by 1.3 by 0.4 
cm., was found in the center of one of the bead strings associated with 
a copper reel in feature 34 (fig. 24h). The coal seems to have been 
carefully trimmed. There was no way of determining exactly how 
this object could have been tied to the string of copper beads, since 
holes for suspension or other indications of fastening are absent. 

White pebbles.—Sixty-eight white quartz pebbles were found as- 
sociated with a burial in feature 47. These pebbles were found in a 
little area about 1 inches in diameter, as though they had been con- 
tained ina bag. The pebbles do not appear to be of any distinctive 
kind, being very similar to those gathered on any beach or stream 
bank. With the exception of two larger pebbles, they measure about 
0.9 ecm. long with proportionate widths and thicknesses. The two 
larger pebbles are 2.0 cm. long. It is highly probable that these peb- 
bles may have been contained in a bag of some kind as had been men- 


No do), =) ADENA MOUND AT NATRIUM—SOLECKI 373 


tioned, or perhaps in some more solid container equally vulnerable to 
decay. Wiiliam C. Mills (1916, pp. 366-369) reports the finding of 
pebbles about the same size, which were recovered in the hollow of 
copper boatstones and copper cones at Tremper Mound. The use of 
the pebbles is problematical. They may have formed part of a set of 
appurtenances, such as fetishes, for promoting the personal welfare of 
the owner. 

Natural sandstone pendant.—A single-holed flat, ovate stone was 
found unassociated in the mound fill. This specimen is quite smooth 
and lacking in sharp and abrupt edges, as though it had been water- 
worn. A hole, 1.1 cm. wide, was perforated from one side only, taper- 
ing to a diameter of 0.9 cm. on the reverse side. There is some doubt 
regarding the origin of the hole, since its inner dimensions are slightly 
belled out, a phenomenon not usually encountered in drilled holes. 
Even the striae one normally finds in drilled holes are absent. Con- 
sidering this piece of sandstone from all points, it appears that it may 
have been a naturally perforated, water-worn pebble which either may 
have attracted the curiosity of the mound builder or was casually in- 
cluded in the mound fill. 

Pottery—Fragments of what were originally two small sherds 
identified by James B. Griffin 7! as Fayette Thick ware were found in 
square N13E2 at an elevation of 2.2 feet from datum. These sherds 
were not associated with other artifacts or feature data, and may 
have been accidentally included in the mound fill. The pottery is 
reddish brown in color, 1.3 cm. thick, heavily tempered with coarse 
fragmentary stone particles and very friable. The outer surface 
bears cord-marked impressions while the inner surface shows a slight 
roughening. Griffin (in Webb and Snow, 1945, p. 244) suggests that 
Fayette Thick pottery, an Adena trait (ibid., p. 102, No. 200), may 
be equated with an early manifestation of the Adena complex. 

Pottery, odd fragments.—A small fillet of grit-tempered pottery 
was found in the excavation spoils. This fillet, 2.5 cm. long, was evi- 
dently finger-modeled. It is dark red in colov, rather coarse in texture, 
and does not seem to have been subjected to firing, judging by its 
softness. 

Another larger piece of hand-modeled light-brown clay, fashioned 
into an oblong shape, was found in the mound fill. It is unfired and 
coarsely sand-tempered. The specimen is 6.0 cm. long, 3.5 cm. wide, 
and 2.0 cm. thick. ‘The surfaces which have not been broken or other- 
wise eroded are rudely smoothed as though this artifact had been 
consciously modeled into shape. Since this object was found in the 
mound fill, nothing definite can be said concerning it, except that it 


21 Director, Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mich. 


374 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bunn 151 


seems to belong to the class of so-called Poverty Point type problemat- 
ical clay objects found to range in time from Tchefuncte to the Coles 
Creek stage in Louisiana (Ford and Quimby, 1945, pp. 31-32). 
These, however, were fired. 

Shells.—One large piece of shell was found in feature 46. This 
shell is a fresh-water mussel shell of local origin. 

Several other fragments of local fresh-water mussel shells were 
found in mound features and in the mound fill. 

These shells may have been worked, although they are so fragmen- 
tary that certain identification cannot be made. 

Textile remains.—One solitary fragment of woven textile (pl. 256) 
was preserved by the copper salts from a copper gorget found in feature 
34. This bit of fabric, 8 by 12 cm., presumably the remnant of a 
larger example of textile art, lay under the gorget, assuming the out- 
line shape of the latter in its preservation. The warp and weft cords 
are both distinct enough to make the identification of the weave. 
The warp cord was the poorer preserved of the two cords. The type 
of weave is called ‘plain twining”’ according to Miner (1936, p. 186, 
fig. 3) and ‘‘single twined weave”’ according to Webb and Funkhouser 
(1931, p. 383, fig. 84). Itisa very simple weave. Single heavy warp 
cords are held in parallel position by lighter paired weft cords which 
pass at right angles to the warp, one cord on either side. The warp 
cords are bound close together by the weft cords, which in this 
example are 0.3 cm. apart from center to center. The weft cord, a 
little less than 0.1 cm. in diameter, is composed of two strands which 
are twisted in a clockwise direction. ‘The coarser warp cord, about 
0.15 cm. in diameter, seems to have been made from one strand 
twisted slightly in a counterclockwise direction. The weft cord is 
the stronger and more flexible of the two cords. This pliant cord may 
have been made from the silky fibers of a species of milkweed (Carey, 
in Webb, 1941, p. 187), although this is purely conjectural thinking, 
since no analysis of the cord was made. ‘The coarser structure of the 
warp strands indicates that another kind of material was used, although 
it is also unidentified. 

There is a small 3-by-6-cm. patch or impression of light furlike ma- 
terial extending along the width edge of this piece of textile. It is of 
parchment thinness. It may have been a bit of the hide of some small 
furred mammal. 

One of the cords of the heavier copper beads is especially noteworthy, 
since it represents a deviation from the commoner cordage type found 
at Natrium Mound. It is composed of two strands of vegetal ma- 
terial twisted together in a counterclockwise direction, forming a cord 
0.15 cm. thick. <A third single strand (0.10 cm. thick) of the same 
fibrous material is wound around the heavier cord in a clockwise 


AgTaO) =) ADENA MOUND AT NATRIUM—SOLECKI ato 


direction. The strands of the cord are twisted approximately five 
turns to the centimeter, while the single outside strand is wound ap- 
proximately one and a half turns to the centimeter. 

Fragments of cords of another kind of material were found preserved 
by the copper beads. These cords, up to approximately 0.4 cm. 
thick, appear to have been made of single strips of hide, laterally 
compressed and rolled to form rounded thongs. The identification 
of the cord substance is not certain, since unfortunately it has not been 
analyzed by a specialist at this writing. 


SUMMARY OF THE ARTIFACTS 


Some of the artifacts are especially significant since they represent 
new classes of objects to be added to the material trait list of the 
Adena complex. This seems to be the first recorded instance of an 
effigy birdstone from an Adena mound. True excavated boatstones 
were also not heretofore recorded for Adena. Several of the recovered 
objects are rarely mentioned for this culture, such as pearl beads and 
the copper reel gorget. For a mound of this size, there appeared to 
be a comparative wealth of artifactual remains. 

An unusual number of celts and hemispheres were recovered. The 
celts, of which a good proportion were of hematite, were largely of the 
rectangular or oblong-poll type, in contrast to the rounded ‘‘pole end” 
celts more commonly found on Adena village sites. The majority of 
the hemispheres were of hematite of which one had a concavity on the 
flat surface. 

Three tubular pipes and one modified tubular pipe were recovered, 
which strengthen the cultural link probabilities and possible temporal 
coincidence of Natrium Mound with an early Hopewell culture 
(Tremper Mound in Ohio), as Webb and Haag (1947, p. 93) have 
similarly suggested for the Fisher site. There are indications that the 
tubular pipes were smoking pipes. 

Of note also is the grooved silt-stone tablet which was found in di- 
rect association with an oblong piece of faceted hematite. This poses 
another more probable usage of these grooved tablets which have been 
commonly called whetstones, bone awl sharpeners, etc. 

Metallurgical analysis of one of the copper beads shows that a kind 
of metallurgy was practiced by the prehistoric Indians at Natrium. 
The metal was worked hot which runs counter to common supposition. 

In comparing the ‘“‘selected developmental traits” from Natrium 
Mound with Webb’s (Webb and Snow, 1945, p. 213) chronological bar 
chart, it is seen that eight of the Natrium Mound material culture 
traits cover a wide span ranging from early Adena to middle Hopewell. 
Two traits (grooved axes and flat subrectangular stone celts) are listed 


as artifacts of early Adena; cones, reels of stone and copper, are listed 
909871—52 25 


376 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL 151 


as artifacts of early Hopewell and Adena; and three traits, including 
a bear canine tooth, use of copper objects and effigy atlatl weights, 
are categorized as artifacts of middle Hopewell. Tubular pipes are 
also listed as early Adena artifacts, but they are of the constricted 
mouth-piece type, while the Natrium Mound specimens are of the 
blocked-end type. However, considering the total assemblage, as ex- 
emplified by the Fortney Mound on the same chart, Natrium Mound 
is certainly an Adena site. There is a lack of the more typically Hope- 
wellian traits, such as ear spools, obsidian, human effigies, mica, etc. 

Likewise, the finding of cones and boatstones on the Fisher site 
(Webb and Haag, 1947, pp. 88-89),” like the stone pipes, points to 
probable contemporaneity of Natrium Mound with this late Adena site 
and to possible close cultural association with the Tremper Mound, 
an early Hopewell site. 

In short, so far as can be ascertained from the artifacts themselves, 
following the established precedent of comparing link traits and 
associations, we must deduce from the evidence that Natrium Mound 
is a late temporal manifestation of the Adena culture. 


SUMMARY 


The following trait list summarizes, in tabular form, the Adena 
cultural traits * for Natrium Mound. These traits have been men- 
tioned above in the course of describing the explorations, features, 
and artifacts. The place of their occurrence in the mound is given 
following the trait item. 

Seventy-four of the traits correspond, in general, to those already 
published. Natrium Mound has contributed 11 new traits which 
have been provisionally appended to the list. It is evident that 
Webb and Haag (1947), in adding new material to the rather compre- 
hensive tabulation drawn up by Webb and Snow (1945), realized that 
the addition of new traits to an already compiled and classified list 
complicated it. It is to be expected that at some future time these 
additional data will have to be incorporated under their rightful places 
in the various subheadings of the Adena summary. 


ADENA TRAIT LIST, NATRIUM MOUND 
MOUND AND BURIAL TRAITS 


7. Mound conical. 
9. Mound in circular enclosure. 
13. Mound shows stratigraphy. 
14. Primary mound contains midden. 
15. Secondary and later sections of mound built of sterile gravelly earth. 
18. Mound shows individual loads of earth. : 
22 It is suggested by Webb and Haag (1947) that boatstones have an origin earlier than Adena. 


23 Compiled from the trait list for the Adena complex drawn up by Webb and Snow (1945) and Webb and 
Haag (1947). 


No 4d0)  )=—s ADENA MGUND AT NATRIUM—SOLECKI 377 
No. 
21. Fired areas on mound surface. 
22. Primary purpose of mound to cover burials. 
23. Mound built by increments as burials were added. 
24. Constructional(?) use of stone. Feature 8. 
25. Horizontal log tombs built on bark-covered clay floor. Feature 438(?). 
26. Single log rectangle about body. Features 41(?), 43. 
37. Subfloor pit dug below earth surface. Feature 28. 
38. Earth embankment around subfloor pit. Feature 28. 
40. Mound erected over subfloor pit. 
54. Circular fire basins. 
_ 55. Fire basins with burned stones. Features 13, 19, 46. 
63. Cremations, total, left in situ. Features 37, 44. 
70. Cremated remains redeposited with burials. Features 34, 40, 46. 
72. Communal deposit of cremated remains. Feature 37. 
73. Artifacts burned with the body. Features 21(?), 32, 41, 44, 46(?). 
74. Unburned artifacts placed with redeposited cremations. 
75. Artifacts intentionally mutilated(?) when deposited with cremations. 
Features 21, 46. 
76. Cremated remains accompanied by red ochre. Features 37, 40, 44. 
77. Body extended burial. Features 45, 48, 50. 
79. Body extended in log tomb, singly. Feature 43. 
81. Multiple extended burials in same grave. Features 33, 35, 46. 
82. Important central graves. Feature 28(?). 
83. Use of bark in graves. Features 5, 34, 40, 41, 46. 
84. Use of puddled clay in graves. Feature 49. 
85. Red ochre on skeleton(?). Feature 46. 
86. Red ochre, lumps or granules in mound. Features 7, 12, 14, 15, 21, 22, 25, 
26, 28, 34, 35, 37, 38, 40, 41, 43, 44, 46, 49. 
87. Red ochre on artifacts. Features 4, 22, 25, 49. 
89. Graphite in graves. Features 20, 46. 
92. Burial of isolated skull. Features 32, 36, 51. 
96. Skeletons bundled. Features 39, 42, 47, 49. 


ARTIFACT TRAITS 


97. Blanks, flint. Features 25, 34, 41, 48, unassociated find. 

98. Celts, flint. Feature 51. 

101. Leaf-shaped blades or knives. Features 4, 12(?), 20, 21, 34, 35, 40, 41, 43, 
51, unassociated finds. 

102. Leaf-shaped blades deposited in cache. Features 4, 17, 21, 22, 32, 40. 

103. Stemmed projectile points deposited in cache. Features 4, 25, 40. 

104. Projectile points, stem with parallel sides. Features 4, 21, 25, 28, 34, 35, 
41, 43, 51. 

106. Projectile points, side notched. Features 20, 41. 

107. Drills and reamers. Features 21, 35, 38, 40, 46, 51. 

110. Scrapers, side, flint, flake. Feature 20. 

112. Gorget, reel shaped. Unassociated find. 

114. Gorget, semikeeled, rectangular base. Unassociated find. 

115. Gorget, flat (triangular). Feature 25. 

116. Gorgets conically perforated from one side only. Unassociated finds and 
Feature 21. 

117. Pipes, tubular (blocked end). Features 43, 46. 

122. Stone balls. Features 20, 46. 


378 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 151 


No. 

123. Celts, granite and other igenous rock. Features 20, 25, 35, 40, 43, 44, 46, 51. 

124. Celts, hematite. Features 6, 20, 21, 35, 41, 43, 46, 49. 

126. Hammerstones, flint concretions and sandstones. Features 38, 41, 46, 49, 
unassociated finds. 

127. Abrading stones. Features 35, 40, 46. 

130. Hemispheres, limestone, sandstone. Features 44, 46. 

131. Hemispheres, barite. Feature 46. 

132. Hemispheres, hematite. Features 20, 21, 25, 40, 43. 

134. Pestle (?). Feature 7. 

137. Concretions or fossils. Unassociated finds, Feature 4. 

139. Geodes, cuplike. Features 4, 46, 48, 50. 

142. Tablets, rectangular (see trait No. 229). 

160. Beads, bone. Feature 46. 

163. Teeth, animal. Feature 21. 

167. Spatula, flat bone sections. Features 35, 46. 

173. Shell spoons (?). Features 12, 20, 35, 46. 

177. Pearl beads. Feature 40. 

178. Cylindrical shell beads. Feature 40. 

181. Beads, rolled copper. Features 5, 15, 16, 22, 32, 34, 38, 40, 41. 46, 49. 

200. Fayette Thick pottery. Unassociated find. 

210. Plain twining (textile). Feature 34. 

219. Pipe, modified tubular. Feature 41. 

221. Copper gorget or breastplate. Feature 34. 

229. Whetstones, sandstone (see also trait No. 142). Features 7, 32, 35, 40, 46, 43. 


NEW ARTIFACT TRAITS 


The following artifact traits recovered from Natrium Mound were 
not heretofore listed as Adena traits. They are provisionally added to 
the end of Webb and Haag’s (1947, p. 100) list. New mound and 
burial traits are also included. 

Three-quarter grooved ax. Feature 49. 

Boatstone, perforated and excavated. Feature 21. 

Birdstone. Feature 44. 

Barite bead. Feature 51. 

Worked-coal object. Feature 34. 

White quartz pebbles associated in burial. Feature 47. 

Battered or faceted lumps and pieces of hematite. Features 25, 32, 35, 37, 
41, 48, 44, 46, 48. 

Deposit of manganese dioxide. Feature 44. 

Zoomorphic figure. Feature 34. 

Pellet in tubular pipe. Features 43, 46. 

Mound situated on terrace not subject to overflow. 

Naturally the traits enumerated above are only representative of 
the burial complex, since there were certainly hosts of other more 
destructible items now lost to us. The burial complex, in turn, can be 
only selectively representative of the total cultural complex. 


CONCLUSION 


This mound is but one of the many tumuli originally found on the 
West Virginia side of the Ohio River. It is feared that with the 


No go)’ = ADENA MOUND AT NATRIUM—SOLECKI 379 


increasing encroachment of industry on the shores of this river, the 
remaining evidences of aboriginal occupation will be destroyed there. 
Unfortunately our record of aboriginal earthworks in West Virginia, 
like the rest of the archeological record in the State, is very meager and 
wanting in detail. None of the earthworks recorded by Cyrus Thomas 
(1894) for West Virginia comprise an adequate fount of information. 
They are characterized by terse and brief comments which only serve 
to whet the appetite of the research worker and interested student. 
In truth, many of the earthworks described in the nineteenth century 
seem scarcely to deserve the distinction of being even partly explored. 
Even if the data from Natrium Mound were unimportant, we could at 
least remark that these data, as well as the exploration, were reason- 
ably complete. 

Natrium Mound was on one of the greatest highways in the East, the 
Ohio River. The latter offered to the prehistoric aborigines an easy 
route of access into the more distant regions. Webb recognizes two 
centers of Adena occupation, the main concentration on the Scioto 
River in lower Ohio and the other, the lesser known, on the Kanawha 
River near Charleston, W. Va. (Webb and Snow, 1945). There 
seems to have been another concentration, albeit a minor one if the 
body of evidence is conclusive, at Moundsville or Grave Creek in 
West Virginia. Some 47 tumuli and evidences of an earthen wall have 
been located there by De Hass (n. d.) and Hennen (1909, p. 12). 

On the basis of the evidence, Natrium Mound represents a single 
cultural occupation. The few unassociated finds (pottery, gorgets, 
etc.) in the mound fill do not represent strong exceptions to this state- 
ment. Grounding our evidence on comparative cultural traits, we 
deduce that this earthwork is related to the group of sites classified by 
Webb (Webb and Snow, 1945, p. 219) as late Adena. In this group 
are represented, among others, the Beech Bottom Mound, the Fortney 
Mound, the classic Adena Mound, and the Fisher site (Webb and 
Haag, 1947). Unfortunately, the aboriginal dwelling place at 
Natrium could not be located. 

Webb (Webb and Snow, 1945, p. 219) asserts that there appear to 
be sites of both early and late Adena in Ohio and Kentucky, while 
West Virginia sites appear to be late Adena. ‘To the hypothesis that 
West Virginia mound sites seem to be late in terms of Webb’s analysis, 
we offer Natrium Mound as further corroboration. It sounds plausi- 
ble to assume that Natrium Mound may have been a culturally 
peripheral structure, both figuratively and literally. A cultural lag 
seems to have carried it well into early Hopewell times. This is 
reflected in the presence of such Hopewellian traits as the birdstone 


24 Natrium Mound and Beech Bottom Mound (Bache and Satterthwaite, 1930) are the only mounds in 
West Virginia described in the literature since Cyrus Thomas’ (1894) work. 


380 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL 151 


and the excavated boatstone, occurring apparently contemporane- 
ously with objects of patently Adena type. On the other hand, 
artifactual remains of what has been called early Adena type (e. g., flat 
subrectangular stone celts, grooved stones) are also included in the 
list of traits from Natrium. Granting that these may have been 
survival traits, we are confronted here with the fact that we have a 
curious assemblage of mixed items, all presumably within one tem- 
poral horizon. It is hoped that in the future we will be able to make 
further assessments of this problem with more archeological explora- 
tion of the upper Ohio drainage. 

In terms of chronologies, Willey (1949, fig. 9) places the date of the 
Adena horizon roughly about A. D. 400 succeeded by Hopewell.” 
Natrium Mound represents a culture status (Burial Mound 1 Stage) 
that was midway between the first springings of an agricultural and 
ceramic-using aboriginal plane and one that was agricultural and 
ceramic-using of more complex cultural order. 

Apparently the practice of erecting tumuli over the dead was already 
well established by the time Natrium Mound was built. We assume 
that the construction of such earthworks had a religious and ceremonial 
significance. The erection of burial mounds necessitated social co- 
operation and a dependable means of food supply necessary for a 
sedentary population. ‘The varied disposition of the dead at Natrium 
Mound does not speak for any strict uniformity. This may have 
arisen from the possibility that modes of burial accorded the deceased 
differed with the place of the individual in his society. Even with the 
paucity of skeletal evidence, there are indications from the remains 
that the individuals represented must have been largely part of the 
adult population. The few remains that could be identified as to 
sex were male. The highly specialized burial equipage, including 
weapons of the hunt, warfare, and ceremonial objects, also strongly 
suggest masculine activities. We infer from this that there was 
probably some kind of social, religious, and/or military hierarchy 
among the Natrium Mound aborigines. Apparently such institu- 
tionalized practices were not out of the ordinary for people of the 
Adena culture. 

The construction of Natrium Mound was undoubtedly premedi- 
tated and planned well in advance. Following the apparent stripping 
of the topsoil, there was laid down a stratum of yellow loamy earth. 
In the approximate center of the area was dug a subfloor pit over 
which a primary mound was erected. The latter contained the 

28 According to one of the findings of the recent carbon-14 tests (Arnold and Libby, 1951, pp. 114-115), 
the order of temporal sequence for Hopewell and Adena isreversed. Even with the high order of accuracy 
attained by these chronological tests (Arnold and Libby, 1949), an early Hopewell date preceding that of 


Adena is viewed with some skepticism by specialists in the light of what is known at present about Adena 
and Hopewell cultures. 


No do), f=) ADENA MOUND AT NATRIUM—SOLECKI 381 


greater portion of the features found in the mound. One of the dis- 
tinguishing criteria of this inner mound was the presence of gray-soil 
heaps of rather loose texture resembling mixed ash deposits. These 
deposits were invariably hummock-shaped in profile. They were con- 
ceivably the product of cremations and fires at the mound site. Over 
the top of the primary mound was added another heaping of earth, 
called in this report the secondary mound. The latter did not add 
much materially to our data, other than the inference that the soil 
seems to have been collected from immediately around the tumulus 
creating a kind of moat or ditch of appreciable width. 

No aboriginal earth quarries were observed in the near vicinity, 
although a portion of the present modern gravel pit could have been 
used. No noticeable rise in elevation was present at the site above 
the general terrace level which could have been taken advantage of in 
the erection of Natrium Mound. ‘The latter was located on the terrace 
above the flood bottom, apparently in keeping with a recognized 
custom. The aborigines must have realized that the occasional river 
floods inundating the bottom terraces would have destroyed or dam- 
aged their funerary structures. This phenomenon of mound location 
on the second or third river terraces seems to be quite general. Cyrus 
Thomas (1894, p. 436) has made reference to this practice on the 
Kanawha River in West Virginia. 

The excavation technique and equipment employed at Natrium 
Mound proved to be unusually satisfactory. The bulldozer, substi- 
tuted for the horse and scoop shovel ordinarily used, was certainly the 
most expedient piece of equipment available. To carry on an exca- 
vation of this earthwork with only four regular workmen in the 
number of 20 days allotted for the job would certainly not have netted 
the results obtained by slower methods. Indeed, the time would 
surely have run out long before the completion of the excavation. 

Once the features—of which 51 are recorded—were exposed, they 
were carefully examined, charted, and photographed. Particular 
attention was paid to changes in soil composition and soil samples 
were taken of each range of demarcation. Laboratory examination 
of the soil samples yielded pertinent information which otherwise 
would have gone undetected. Especially revealing were the analyses 
for the available bone phosphate, disclosing that there were more 
burials than originally accounted for by osseous material alone. 

No elaborate structural tombs, or indications of post molds sug- 
gesting houses, were found. Although it was expected that there 
may have been post molds in the basal layer, the search for them 
proved fruitless. 

Salvaged from the possibility of total loss to archeology, Natrium 
Mound represents a further contribution to our knowledge of the 


382 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 151 


burial phase of the Adena culture. The archeological evidence pre- 
sented in this report permits us to enlarge the scope of our under- 
standing relative to what must have been a highly dynamic order of 
cultura] change in the life of late Adena man. 


APPENDIX 1 
ANALYSES OF SOIL SAMPLES AND MINERAL MATERIALS 


Soil samples.—Thirty soil samples from various parts of Natrium 
Mound were sent to the Department of Agriculture for examination 
and analysis. These samples were checked for the available phos- 
phate present, the pH value, and the textural terminology as recog- 
nized by the soil specialists. The available phosphates tested for are 
the bone or calcium phosphates which were graded according to the 
amount present in each sample in five degrees of concentration. They 
were very low, low, medium, high, and very high. Since the preserva- 
tion of artifactual and skeletal material depended, in large part, upon 
whether or not the soil was acid or basic (acid soil is a notoriously poor 
medium for the preservation of organic material), it was determined 
to get an analysis of the pH factor or the hydrogen ion value. Remem- 
bering that a pH value of 7.0 is neutral, values above this figure con- 
stitute a basic or alkaline medium, while values below pH 7.0 are acid. 
For the sake of uniformity, it was decided to have a soil expert’s 
identification of the textural quality of the samples. The archeolog- 
ical importance of the analysis for bone phosphate has been demon- 
strated with great success in northern Europe (Clark, 1936, pp. 
19-22) 26 

What appeared to be the more important featural data were sam- 
pled for soil analysis. All the red and yellow ochre, white lumps 
of material, and similar anomolous and extraordinary soils were saved 
for laboratory examination. These are more fully described later. 

The whole of the mound fill was acidic to a moderate degree, ranging 
in hydrogen ion concentrations from values of pH 4.5 to pH 6.3. 
The general level of acidity falls closer to the lower figure, or higher 
acidity.2”7. One check sample of sterile soil taken outside the mound 
at a depth of 3.0 feet below stake N2-0 gives a pH value of 5.6. It 

28 The method depends on the fact that in areas of intense human settlement, the phosphate content of the 
soil, owing to the decay of discarded bones, tends to be considerably higher than in areas merely contiguous 
to such settlement, and much higher than in those areas completely beyond the bounds of settlement. It 
has been found, in fact, that the soil of an area of intensive settlement may contain easily as much as 50 times 
the proportion of phosphate as ordinary soil. There is a specific unit of testing for phosphate content called 
a phosphate degree which is equivalent to a yield of “%ooo0 percent of phosphate under the action of citric acid 
at astrength of 2 percent. The writer did not use this method of degree measurement, since he did not per- 
form the tests himself. : 

Two Swedish scientists, O. Arrhenius (1930), who evolved the method, and Ivar Schnell (1932), who 
applied it successfully, are credited with introducing this technique to archeology. 


27 Attention is drawn to the fact that a solution with a pH of 4 is 10 times as acid as one with a pH of 5 
and 100 times as acid as one with a pH of 6. 


No aol, Par. _ ADENA MOUND AT NATRIUM—SOLECKI 383 


indicates very low in available phosphate. This soil had a loam 
texture. 

Three samples were taken of basal deposits in features 14, 28, and 
43. All three were very high in phosphate content, the pH’s being 
4.5, 4.7, and 6.4, respectively. The soils were classified texturally as 
loam and silt loam. Only feature 43 in this group was a burial with 
observable skeletal material. The others were a lens of red burned 
earth (feature 14) and the central pit (feature 28). The test for 
phosphate would seem to indicate whether or not skeletal material 
had been present in a feature, making allowances for contamination 
from extraneous sources. Presumably features 14 and 28 also repre- 
sent burials, shown by the very high amount of phosphate present, 
undoubtedly the result of disintegrated and decayed bones. 

No doubt the majority of, if not all the rest of the features lacking 
skeletal material, were also burials. Frequently all that remained 
of the osseous matter in undoubted burials were a few bones for- 
tuitously preserved by copper salts. 

Gray-soil samples.—Encountered in the course of excavations were 
pockets and lenses of grayish soil which seemed to have been purposely 
deposited (fig. 19 A). 

The soil color ranged from gray to light brown, and was quite 
loose or light-textured, unlike the more compact soil of the mound 
fill surrounding it. It had the characteristics of mixed ashes and 
loamy earth with some included pebbles. It was obviously not 
natural earth, such as that encountered in sterile soil zones. 

Beginning at a depth of 4 feet from the top of the mound in the 
center, the gray soil was found occurring in a series of isolated and 
contiguous lenses down to base level. It capped several features 
(Nos. 20, 30, 34, 40, 41, 43). The greatest concentration lay in the 
eastern and northern areas. It is not known how much of the gray 
soil had been disturbed by Wells’ intrusive excavation on the southern 
side of the mound. Although the demarcations between lenses could 
be distinguished since the gray soil was easily recognizable, the rapid 
nature of the exploration forestalled any attempts to follow them 
out at leisure. The largest body of gray soil observed covered 
feature 41. The soil was superimposed as a sort of blanket over a 
greater part of the yellow loam layer, the prepared basal layer of 
Natrium Mound. In no case did the loam lie above the gray soil. 
The latter soil, for some inexplicable reason, cut through the loam 
in a portion of the east-central part of the mound base. 

Laboratory examination and analysis of four samples of gray soil 
showed that it was very high in available phosphate, indicating that 
it was heavily contaminated with this matter. All the specimen 
samples were acidic, the pH values ranging from a pH 6.0 to pH 4.7. 


384 


BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 


‘ 
, 


Nv 


PREPARED BASE OF YELLOW LOAM 
YELLOW LOAM ~~~- 


\ 


\ 


SUPERFICIALLY 
O/ISTURBED 


PIT OF YELLOW LOAM 


PREPARED YELLOW LOAM DISTRIBUTION 
8 e 


[BULL, 151 


"GRAY "SO/L DISTRIBUTION 


Mound. 


Jum 


in Natri 


10n In 


Figure 19.—The gray-soil and yellow-soil distribut 


NoeOp PA) «= ADENA MOUND AT NATRIUM—SOLECKI 385 


The textures were those technically described as either coarse sandy 
loam, or coarse loamy sand. We infer from the high phosphate con- 
tent that this soil probably may have been part of cremation hearth 
sweepings, or the product of some kind of combustion in which bony 
matter played a part. It is interesting to note that a sample of soil, 
not gray soil, found directly beneath one of the gray-soil layers, 
contained 1 degree less phosphate content (high) (pH 4.6). We may 
surmise that there was some natural percolation of mineral-bearing 
water in the mound. Root tendrils, which were plainly visible during 
the course of the excavation, probably had much to do with the course 
of the water’s percolation. 

The prepared mound base.—A layer of yellow soil (fig. 19 B), a 
kind of almost impervious sterile loam, was uncovered at the base of 
the mound, lying directly beneath the gray-soil bed and the dark soil. 
The yellow soil was most frequently associated with the gray soil. 
The former, like the latter, was intentionally deposited for some 
purpose by the aborigines. Apparently it had been brought to the 
spot from elsewhere, probably from the riverbank, since it did not 
occur naturally in the immediate vicinity. Almost claylike in compo- 
sition, the yellow soil was mixed with a moderate amount of pebbles. 
This deposit, outlined in the course of the excavation, averaged about 
8 inches thick. Its over-all thickness ranged from 6 to 10 inches with 
an extreme thickness of 2 feet ina pit. Its elevation above the datum 
line was approximately 1.3 feet, or ranging from 10 inches to 2 feet 
above datum. Viewed in ground plan, the bed, which occupied the 
central portion of the mound, was shaped like a constricted ovate, 
with two outliers of small lenses to the north and south of the main 
body. The latter measured about 40 by 35 feet, the longer measure- 
ment being on the E-W axis. There was an oval-shaped pocket of 
yellow loam 10 feet long and 5.5 feet wide in the northeast part of the 
mound. This pocket or pit, which was basin-shaped in vertical sec- 
tion, extended into the subsoil for a depth of 2 feet. There was a 
small heap of the same yellow soil 1.5 feet high to the immediate 
northeast of this pit. Underlying the prepared floor was sterile sub- 
soil consisting of loose sandy and gravelly soil mixed with inclusions 
of black shale. This soil is evidently part of the Ohio River terrace 
gravels. No intervening layer of humus or sod was visible between 
the yellow soil and the subsoil. From this it may be inferred that 
the sod or humus was stripped from the mound area before the floor 
was laid down. 

Laboratory examination indicates that the yellow loam (one 
sample) had a low phosphate content, and a pH of 4.5. It was tex- 
turally classed as coarse sandy loam. The fact that the loam lacks 
phosphate to any degree is not surprising, since it appears to be 


386 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 151 


relatively pure and uncontaminated soil. The sterile and undis- 
turbed gravelly soil beneath the loam layer had even a lesser amount 
of phosphate, or very low content according to analysis of one sample. 
It was classed as coarse loamy sand. Since clay soil such as the 
yellow loam is less permeable than a sand, it follows that the hardpan 
of yellow loam must have acted as a kind of hindrance to permeable 
solutions in the mound, sealing off the more permeable subsoil from 
the mound proper. 

The reason for the occurrence of the pit and heap of yellow soil on 
the mound periphery, as noted above, is not certain. The soil was 
not naturally deposited, that much we are sure of. Vertical sections 
were carefully checked. It may be that the earth was dumped there 
originally, to be redeposited later over the mound area. Speculating 
further, the pit may have been a kind of mixing trough where the 
loam was made more plastic for the preparation. 


MINERAL MATERIALS 


Graphite—Approximately three-quarters of a teacupful of black 
graphite granules was recovered from the mound (feature 46). These 
lumps vary from approximately 0.7 cm. in size to the consistency of 
powder. Another small patch of graphite occurred in feature 44. 
Graphite is one of the Adena traits (Webb and Snow, 1945, p. 79). 
The closest recorded instance of the occurrence of this mineral in a 
related Adena mound is at Beech Bottom, where graphite was found 
as small grains or pebbles, the largest diameters varying between 
0.5 and 1.0 cm. 

Manganese dioxide.—A small deposit of bluish matter and associ- 
ated discolored earth, comprising about 2 tablespoonfuls, was re- 
covered from square N9E2, feature 44. This bluish deposit, upon 
examination, proved to yield a manganese dioxide stain, apparently 
accounting for its color. ‘The occurrence of manganese dioxide from 
other related mounds is not recorded to the writer’s knowledge. 
Presumably this mineral was intentionally placed in association with 
other funerary material. It was probably a paint derivative. 

Red and yellow ochre-—Red and yellow ochre were found in rela- 
tively great abundance in Natrium Mound. At least 18 pounds of 
red ochre, and about 6 ounces of yellow ochre were recovered from 
burials and other features. Red ochre seems to have been a favorite 
mineral among the Natrium Mound builders because traces as well 
as fairly large deposits were found throughout the tumulus. One of 
the heaviest deposits of this mineral was exposed in feature 4 (pl. 
249), where it covered a cache of flint blades. 

Three samples of red ochre were tested from Natrium Mound by 
the soil specialists for phosphate content, acidity, and texture. The 


AouOl e Y)~=—)« ADENA MOUND AT NATRIUM—SOLECKI 387 


red ochre was found to be very high in phosphate content, on the 
acid side ranging from pH values of 4.5 to 6.3, and loamy in texture. 
It was not immediately determined by the analysis why the red 
ochre was so high in phosphate content. The possibility that it may 
have become contaminated from association with the phosphates of 
the feature should not be overlooked. However, in view of the fact 
that other small deposits of earth (yellow ochre and whitish matter), 
not red ochre, found in similar situations lacked such appreciable 
amounts of phosphates, leads to suspicion that the phosphate was 
an introduced ingredient. 

The composition of ochres in their natural conditions include 
Fe.03, AleOz, SiO, HO, and small amounts of alkalies, but no phos- 
phate. A significant statement by a geologist is: 

The term “red ochre” as commonly used applies to earthy and pul- 
verulent forms of the minerals, hematite and limonite, but which are 
almost invariably more or less impure through the presence of other 
metallic oxides and argillaceous matter. In nature the material 
rarely occurs in a suitable condition for immediate use, but needs 
first to be prepared by washing and grinding, and perhaps roasting. 
(Merrill, 1905, p. 100.) 

In addition, Merrill (1905) states that the colors of the ochres are 
dependent on the degree of hydration and oxidation of the material 
and the kind and amount of impurities. The colors are intensified 
or otherwise varied by roasting. 

It is entirely plausible that the intense heat, as indicated by many of 
the features, probably contributed to color changes in the ochre. On 
the other hand, we are not sure whether or not the Adena people prac- 
ticed ochre roasting consciously, introducing into the mixture other 
materials. The problem of red ochre should be elucidated further. 

We know that the prehistoric Indians laboriously mined red and 
yellow ochre and white kaolin—at least we have one well-honeycombed 
mine on record near Leslie, Mo. (Holmes, 1919, pp. 266-270; Holmes 
in Moorehead, 1912, pp. 59-64). 

A simple test was made by the writer to determine if red ochre 
could have been derived from hematite. Upon rubbing a small frag- 
ment of this stone upon a streak plate, it became obvious that the 
hematite streak, a dark brown color, was different from the color of 
the ochre, a bright red. This test was suggested by the recovery of 
grooved silt stones and faceted hematite stones in Natrium Mound. 
One particular grooved silt-stone artifact was found in situ with an 
oblong-faceted piece of hematite in one of the grooves (p. 341). It is 
entirely possible that the powder or hematite rubbings could have 
been converted to red ochre by roasting it, driving off the water con- 


388 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bunn 151 


tent. Such necessary temperatures were well within the reach of the 
aborigine. 

Yellow ochre is less commonly found on Adena sites than red ochre. 
A thickness of hard, lumpy, impure yellow-ochre material was found 
coating a grooved silt stone in feature 46. Other small deposits of 
the stuff were found in association with other features. Analysis of 
five samples of yellowish earth or yellow ochre reveals that they all 
lacked the high amount of phosphates found in the red ochre. Two 
of the analyses showed very low, two low, and one medium phosphate 
content. The texture was “coarse sandy loam” in three samples, 
and “loam” in two of the samples. The acidity ranged from values of 
pH 4.2 to pH 5.2 The yellow ochre seemed to be in its natural state, 
or, at least, naturally lacking in phosphates, except for a slight possible 
contamination. 

It is evident from this brief appraisal that the question of the ab- 
original usage of ochre, especially red ochre, should be studied at 
length in all its technical and chemical aspects. It seems apparent 
that we should no longer accept red ochre as a final entity in itself 
when describing it as a trait, but we should examine it critically in 
an effort to learn more about its nature and qualities. In this wise 
we may learn more about the people who used this pigment. It is 
very likely that there may be certain earmarks contained in the con- 
sistency of the ochre, such as the phosphate occurrence noted above, 
which may give us cultural information which we have heretofore 
unsuspected. 

White powder deposits —Some white powdery material was found 
partially coating a grooved silt stone (feature 40). This white de- 
posit had a very high phosphate content and a pH of 4.7. It was class- 
ified as coarse loamy sand according to the soil experts. Another 
small deposit of white powder near some beads in feature 34 also had a 
very high phosphate content. It had a pH value of 6.1 and was classi- 
fied texturally as coarse sandy loam. 

However, not all white deposits appeared to be the same chemically. 
A white powdery deposit resembling ashes was discovered to the west 
of a flint in feature 34. This deposit had a low phosphate content and 
a pH value of 4.8. It was classified as coarse sandy loam. Another 
similarly textured lump of whitish material from feature 46 had a very 
low phosphate content with a pH value of 5.0. A white deposit from 
the same feature gave a very high test for phosphate. Some of the 
fragments showed cortical bone structure under magnification, adding 
conclusive proof. 

The appearance of these deposits of white material in the mound 
suggested burned or cremated bones which were reduced to the end 
product, bone ash. Since bone ash is high in available bone phos- 


Ato} Ft? «= ADENA MOUND AT NATRIUM—SOLECKI 389 


phate, we can eliminate the two deposits containing little phosphate 
from this category at once. The first two of the deposits examined 
above, which are very high in phosphate, are probably cremation re- 
mains. The other two earthy materials may have been paint pig- 
ments of mineral origin. 


CONCLUSIONS: SOILS AND MINERALS 


The study of soils and minerals in relation to archeology is very il- 
luminating, in that much can be learned to supplement the total 
picture of a prehistoric culture. In this regard, analysis for phosphate 
bears an especially interesting relationship. Positive evidence was 
found indicating that there were more burials in Natrium Mound than 
originally had been enumerated. The latter were based on skeletal 
evidence, some of which was exceedingly meager. Phosphate analy- 
sis, revealing very high concentrations of bone phosphate in apparently 
nonburial features, actually proved the usefulness of this check. 

Wider applications of soil analysis for phosphate are foreseen, 
especially when there is doubt of whether osseous matter, specifically 
burials, had been present in a given area or not. 

The situation regarding the pH of the mound soils is less revealing. 
Other than that the average of the soil samples within the mound is 
slightly more acid than the soil outside the mound, the writer is not 
certain what deductions might be drawn. Cook and Treganza (1947, 
pp. 140-141) * who made a quantitative investigation of two aboriginal 
habitation mounds in California, have indicated that mounds contain- 
ing a measurable amount of calcium carbonate give a basic reaction, 
such as one might guess. Natrium Mound, in the absence of shells 
and other lime-producing materials, was acid. The terrace on which 
this earthwork was situated is composed of an acid soil called Wheeling 
gravelly loam (Hennen, 1909, pp. 620-621). 

Soil specialists (Kellogg, 1941, 1948) have shown that soil is an inti- 
mate part of our economy today and in the future, as much as it had 
been in the past. Needless to say, the latter also includes prehistoric 
civilizations as well. Application of the geochemistry of soil scientists, 
one phase of their study, can be profitably employed in conjunction 
with archeological studies. Undoubtedly many of the soil phenomena 
and factors of soil chemistry which perplex the archeologist, may be 
explained in terms of the soil scientist. The study of soils is already a 
thoroughly functioning study—there remains but the direct applica- 
tion of this knowledge to archeological work. The writer feels that 

28 Naturally the check for bone phosphate does not show whether or not the results are nonhuman or human 
phosphates. However, one can reasonably expect that burial furniture will accompany a human interment, 
and that a burial mound will contain human remains. 


29 These authors made three types of analyses: For hydrogen ion concentration, for lime as CaC Os, and for 
organic carbon. No phosphate analyses were made. 


390 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 151 


the soil study made here is only an exploratory measure in the light of 
what can be done in future archeological soils research. 

Some investigations have been made on human bones in the belief 
that chemical changes which take place in human burials in the soil 
may be utilized as a criterion for determining the age of the bone. 
Although the results of the experiments are encouraging, success of 
the methodology has not yet been complete (Cook and Heizer, 1947; 
Heizer and Cook, 1949). 

APPENDIX 2 


MICROSTRUCTURE OF COPPER BEAD FROM NATRIUM MOUND 


“‘A copper bead from an ancient Indian burial mound at Natrium, 
West Virginia was badly corroded, the metal being less than 0.02 
inches thick at any place. There was not enough metal for chemical 
analysis, but there was little evidence of oxide in the interior indicating 
that it probably was made from native copper. ‘Two photomicro- 
graphs (pl. 29 a, b) show the grain structure on opposite sides of the 
bead. There is no significant difference in structure in the two areas. 
The bead was formed hot by hammering as indicated by a few twins 
and by the more or less equiaxed grains. The material was not an- 
nealed following hot working since the grains differ considerably in 
size. ‘There is no evidence of any cold working. Several small dis- 
continuities resembling cracks, one of which is shown in plate 296, 
were observed in the bead. While these generally marked the 
boundaries of grains, they could not be pulled apart readily, indi- 
cating that they had been partly welded together. This would have 
been possible only in hot-worked material. These discontinuities 
probably resulted from the hammering of folds or overlaps in the origi- 
inal piece of copper from which the bead was made.” (Report sub- 
mitted by Dr. George Ellinger, National Bureau of Standards, Wash- 
ington, D. C.) 

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EXPLANATION OF PLATES 


PLATE 24 


a, Natrium Mound at the start of the excavation. 

b, First exploratory trench. The reference profile is at the right of the trench. 

c, Test trenching the upper sector of the western side of the mound. 

d, Cutting away of the overburden and backfill earth with a bulldozer. 

e, Operations during a snowstorm. 

f, Slicing below the base of the mound in the final stage. 

g, Feature 4: Cache of chert blades covered with red ochre. 

h, Feature 34: Copper breastplate and other artifacts associated with a burial. 
The bead strings in the lower group appear to be arranged in a zoomorphic 
pattern. 

i, Feature 21: Part of a group of 109 chert blades and associated artifacts. 
object above No. 1 is an excavated boatstone lying in situ. 


The 


Puate 25 


a, Feature 34: Copper breastplate. 

b, Feature 34: Textile directly associated with copper breastplate. 

c, Feature 46: Disk beads of bone associated with a burial. 

d, Feature 51: Disk bead of barite. 

e, Copper and shell beads with associated cordage found in various features. 

f, g, Feature 43: Tubular stone pipe and associated stone pellet. 

h, Feature 46: Long stone tube pipe. 

i,j, Feature 21: Two views of an excavated steatite boatstone found associated 
with a cache of blades. 

k, Feature 41: Modified tubular sandstone pipe. 


PLATE 26 


a, Unassociated find of slate reel-shaped gorget. 

b, Feature 25: Slate pendant. 

c, Unassociated find of slate, semikeel-shaped gorget. 

d, Feature 44: Sandstone birdstone. 

e, Feature 46: Round stone ball. 

f, Feature 20: Round stone ball. 

g, Feature 49: Three-quarter grooved stone ax. 

h, Feature 44: Celt of diabase with deposit of white matter adhering to the upper 
surface. Semipointed poll. 

i, Feature 46: Well-polished celt of green stone. Pointed poll. 

j, Feature 46: Celt of diabase, two-thirds polished. Oblong poll. 

k, Feature 25: Celt of diabase, one-quarter polished. Oblong poll. 


l, Feature 43: 
m, Feature 48: 


n, Feature 43: 


o, Feature 43: 
p, Feature 25: 
q, Feature 20: 


Celt of diabase. 
Celt of diabase. 
Celt of diabase. 
Celt of diabase. 
Celt of diabase. 
Celt of diabase. 


to the poll. 


Rounded poll. 

Rounded poll. 

Rounded poll. 

Pointed poll. 

Oblong poll. 

Oblong poll. Thin coating of graphite adhering 


393 


394 


r, Feature 51: 
s, Feature 43: 
t, Feature 46: 
u, Feature 49: 
v, Feature 46: 
w, Feature 43: 
x, Feature 43: 
y, Feature 41: 


BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 


Celt made from a flaked blade. 
Hematite celt. 
Hematite celt. 
Hematite celt. 
Hematite celt. 
Hematite celt. 
Hematite celt. 
Hematite celt. 
Hematite celt. 


Oblong poll. 
Oblong poll. 
Oblong poll. 
Oblong poll. 
Oblong poll. 
Oblong poll. 
Oblong poll. 
Pointed poll. 


z, Feature 6: 


a’, Feature 21: Bit end of massive hematite celt associated with group of blades. 


PLATE 27 


a, Feature 35: Abrading or sinew stone. 

b, Feature 46: Abrading or sinew stone. 

c, d, e, Feature 46: Part of a group of honing stones found in a burial. 

f, Feature 35: Grooved silt stone with associated piece of oblong, faceted hematite. 

g, Feature 32: Grooved silt-stone tablet with deposit of burned organic matter on 
surface. 

h, t, Feature 46: Two well-polished plano-convex barite hemispheres found to- 

gether. Top and profile view. 

j, Feature 46: Plano-convex limestone hemisphere with fragment of bone adhering 
to flat surface. Top view. 

k, Feature 40: Plano-convex hematite hemisphere with hollow base. Profile view. 

1, Feature 20: Plano-convex hematite hemisphere with flat base. Top view. 

m, n, Feature 46: Two views of faceted piece of hematite showing heavy attrition. 

o, Feature 41: Two worked pieces of hematite. 

p, Feature 41: Part of a group of worked fragments of hematite. 

q, Features 35 and 41: Group of hammered and faceted hematite stones. 

r, Feature 46: Natural ferruginous cupstone showing aboriginal adaptation to use. 


a, Feature 40: 


b, Feature 40: 
c, Feature 22: 


d, Feature 22: 


e, Feature 40: 
f, Feature 22: 
g, Feature 22: 


h, Feature 21: 


i, Feature 41: 
j, Feature 21: 


PLATE 28 


Leaf-shaped blade of light-gray chert. 
Leaf-shaped blade of black chert. 
Leaf-shaped blade of dark-gray chert. 
Leaf-shaped blade of banded dark chert. 
Leaf-shaped blade of light-gray chert. 
Leaf-shaped blade of dark-gray chert. 
Leaf-shaped blade of dark-gray chert. 
Leaf-shaped blade of tan chert. 
Leaf-shaped blade of gray chert. 
Leaf-shaped blade of tan chert. 


k,l, m, Feature 21: Trianguloid-shaped blades of tan chert. 
n, 0, Feature 21: Leaf-shaped blades of tan chert. 


p; Feature 35: 
q, Feature 21: 


Flat-base, parallel-sided stemmed blade of dark chert. 
Flat-base, parallel-sided stemmed blade of light-tan chert. 


r, Feature 4: Round-base stemmed blade of dark-gray chert. 


s, Feature 40: 


t, Feature 40: 


u, Feature 40: 
v, Feature 20: 
w, Feature 40: 


Round-base stemmed blade of pink chert. 
Round-base stemmed blade of dark-green chert. 
Round-base stemmed blade of light-green chert. 
Round-base stemmed blade of gray chert. 
Round-base stemmed blade of light-gray chert. 


NO uo); =) ADENA MOUND AT NATRIUM—SOLECKI 395 
x, Feature 51: Projectile point of black chert with rounded stemmed base. 

y, Feature 51: Projectile point of light-green chert with rounded stemmed base. 
z, Feature 25: Projectile point of light-tan chert with one side notched. 

a’, Feature 51: Projectile point of dark-green chert with ovate base. 

b’, Feature 25: Projectile point of gray chert with flat-stemmed base. 

c’, Feature 25: Projectile point of light-gray chert with flat-stemmed base. 

d’, Feature 25: Projectile point of light grayish-tan chert with flat-stemmed base. 
e’, Feature 25: Projectile point of grayish-tan chert with flat-stemmed base. 

jf’, Unassociated find: Projectile point of dark-gray chert with flat-stemmed base. 
g’, Feature 41: Side-notched light-buff projectile point. 

h’, Unassociated find: Crude triangular projectile point. 

zi’, Feature 40: Rounded-base drill showing polish from attrition on the point. 

j’, Feature 46: Flat-base stemmed drill of light-tan chert. 

k’, Feature 46: Rounded-base stemmed drill of light-tan chert. 

l’, Feature 46: Flat-base stemmed drill of light-gray chert. 

m’, Feature 46: Flat-base stemmed drill of light-tan chert. 

n', Feature 51: Pointed-base drill of dark chert. 

o’, Feature 35: Pointed-base drill of dark chert. 


PLATE 29 


a, Miscrostructure of cross section of bead (X 100). The piece is badly corroded 
and is quite thin in places. There is no evidence of cold work. 

b, Microstructure of cross section of bead opposite that shown ina (X 100). There 
are a few twins, the grains are generally equiaxed, and differ considerably 
in size. There is a discontinuity resembling a crack which has been par- 
tially welded together. 


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et 
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aH Poo? OO! Sy baad Winalinns 
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Got s ALT abised het ia auneadale hal 


~ misty eC Linas Vang Ne 
nino nih bos’ bore vilgveray ane aatayy | mu 


foliiw thai @ wiiidivese? Filta fewseihy Rag 


PLATE 24 


BULLETIN 151 


BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 


(g6g °d ves “uolyeuR[dxe 10,7) 


“SLOVAILYY GALVIDOSSY HLIM SHYNLVAS GNNOW JSAILVLNSEASSYdsy GNV GNNOW WI LVN 3O NOILVHYO1dxy AHL NI SADVLS 


BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 151 PLATE 25 


“y 


7 


i i 
Ee ee Ji iat re sii esprit 


i a 
O° 22ers 
C/4. 


NATRIUM MOUND ARTIFACTS. 
(For:explanation, see p. 393.) 


BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 151 PLATE 26 


NATRIUM_MOUND ARTIFACTS. 
(For explanation, see pp. 393-394.) ~ AE F 


BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 151 PLATE 27 


NATRIUM MOUND ARTIFACTS. 
(For explanation, see p. 394.) 


BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 151 PLATE 28 


NATRIUM MOUND ARTIFACTS. 
(For explanation, see pp 394-395.) 


BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 151 PLATE 29 


MICROSTRUCTURE OF CROSS SECTIONS OF BEAD. 


Photographs by National Bureau of Standards. 
(For explanation, see p. 395.) 


SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 
Bureau of American Ethnology 
Bulletin 151 


Anthropological Papers, No. 41 
The Wind River Shoshone Sun Dance 


By D. B. SHIMKIN 


397 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 
ROR AG Cee pes Seo ied Le ae TO, i, Re Er Py hs ee eS 401 
ODE Reiited 0c 1 ae eee ee ae ee Soe ee ee. eee eee ee 403 

MetsUn, Wanee COMpleK 225 sm =e ee ee ee ete 403 
Origins of the Wind River Shoshone Sun Dance__-_____-__----_-_-- 409 
The early Shoshone Sun Dance: Reconstruction_________________~_- 417 
pocialiend, psychological factors s-os24-0 - fae: sks Ligeti yes 428 
MinerMeMenrn Sul, Dance ee 2 ie. ee Se a ee a ee 435 
The later history of the Shoshone Sun Dance-_-_-___________-_-_-- 435 
The modern Sun Dance—generalized version____._._.._..-_------- 437 
ithe:modern sun Dance-——_19377 versions oe eae ee ee eee 451 
Nociliand psychological factors: 5 yivsi 2. De ee eee ee 464 
Conciisions:s 7-4 te. SEUSS Bes aplenty oe Page ee Re 472 
Appendix 1. Manuscript notes on the Wind River Shoshone Sun Dance 
GSO?) by Tai. SG. Claires se 2 2s ke 2 at ae eee 474 
NEapendin sg. PMNCipal INPOnMaAnie. 18. Sse 2e oon a ee oa See 476 
Appendix 3. Rohrschach test data on Sun Dancers and nonparticipants. 477 
Bibliooraphy #2. see e ee eee eee See. Shee Ane ee 481 
ILLUSTRATIONS 
PLATES 

30. Upper: Tom Compton, May 1937. Lower: The Sun Dance field, 
Duly Ll Osie Lean eee Oe Ln Le ree ae 484 

31. Upper: Measuring radii to locate side-post holes from the center pole. 

July 3, 1937. Lower: Compton fixing the buffalo head on 
the center pole, and Tassitsie painting it..._....._.-__---- 484 

32. Upper: How the rafters are raised. Lower: Getting ready to lift the 
Center poless 222 es ee SSeS). NEPA ene ree eee es SA 484 

33. Upper: Men putting up the side roof poles. Lower: The brush wall 
being finished 4 se< a2 Shen 3 eh ee ee ee 484 

34. Upper: Before dawn. Orchestra and resting dancers. Lower: The 
GAN GELSHOTEEC bat le IS 11) Oss Ue ee ee 484 

35. Upper: Another view of the dancers greeting the rising sun. Lower: 
A third view of the sunrise ceremony_________----------- 484 

36. Upper: The prayer songs around the fire. Lower: Details of the 
orchestrarandispectators==s- 2522 == ae eee ee ee eee 484 
ain Cnpess Dancing.» Lowes linedidancersess =e. 2 ee eee 484 

FIGURES 

20. The lineage of Ohamagwaya or Yellow Hand____-___-___-_---_-_-- 412 
2k Sun Dance layout and paraplernalia® 20.29 52..2 22. = ee 452 
224 WindiRiver Shoshone Meservation= =. 22-622 =- ..2.-<-204--s25. 465 
Zo BeOnUraiG GiLeTeN COS .o SS = a oe Se ec, ae eee See 466 
24. Local differences on the Wind River Reservation_____________-_-_-- 467 
252) COMmMelations: between INS tliUGlONS see ee es Se ee 468 


ew, 


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Mec Se ae a ‘snoignatieai tay 


PREFACE 


The purposes of this study of the Wind River Shoshone Sun Dance 
are to broaden existing knowledge of the past and present forms of 
the ceremony among these people, to trace its history, and to outline 
the social and psychological factors affecting the development of the 
institution or, conversely, stemming from it. Despite inevitable 
omissions and possible errors, these goals have, I believe, been sub- 
stantially achieved. 

The most important previous work on the Wind River Shoshone 
Sun Dance is Lowie’s ‘‘The Sun Dance of the Wind River Shoshone 
and Ute” (Lowie, 1919). Previous publications on Wind River Sho- 
shone history are my ‘‘Shoshone-Comanche Origins and Migrations” 
(Shimkin, 1941) and ‘‘Dynamics of Recent Wind River Shoshone 
History” (Shimkin, 1942). The latter paper and two other reports, 
“Wind River Shoshone Literary Forms” (Shimkin, 1947a) and “Child- 
hood and Development among the Wind River Shoshone” (Shimkin, 
1947c) present additional information on personality-culture inter- 
relationships among these people. My sketch of linguistic structure 
(Shimkin, 1949 a, b) will be of help in analyzing the texts presented. 

I am indebted to the Board of Research of the University of Cali- 
fornia for financing the necessary field work in Wyoming in 1937 and 
1938; to Forrest R. Stone, superintendent, and his staff at Wind 
River Indian Reservation for invaluable direct assistance and free 
access to all needed records; to my Shoshone informants and inter- 
preters for aiding and guiding my field work; to Prof. H. E. Jones, of 
the Institute for Child Welfare of the University of California, for 
instruction and facilities needed for the psychological aspects of this 
study; to the Bureau of American Ethnology for permission to pub- 
lish their manuscript materials; and to Mrs. Eleanor Garcia and 
Arthur Ferreira for clerical assistance. Professors R. H. Lowie, 
A. L. Kroeber, and Egon Brunswick, of the University of California; 
Dr. Philip Drucker, of the Bureau of American Ethnology; and my 
wife, Edith M. Shimkin, have made valuable criticisms of this report. 


D. B. SuimxIn. 


Princeton, N. J., July 1947. 
401 


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; pan Fe ee : ie Be 


O Qn SiR, OV RIN SRI EEL 4s BV 


THE WIND RIVER SHOSHONE SUN DANCE 


By D. B. Suimx1n 


THE OLD SUN DANCE 
THE SUN DANCE COMPLEX 


In the middle of the nineteenth century, the Sun Dance was the 
greatest, most spectacular, and most sacred tribal ceremony through- 
out a region stretching from the Blackfoot of Alberta to the Comanche 
of central Texas, from the Wind River Shoshone of Wyoming to the 
Santee-Dakota of Minnesota (Spier, 1921 b, pp. 459, 495). But, by 
the end of the nineteeth century, the Sun Dance had been suppressed 
or had died out in most of the Great Plains. (Dorsey, 1903, pp. 1-2; 
Lowie, 1915 a, p. 5; Marriott, 1945, pp. 304-305.) Yet, at the same 
time, it acquired new vigor on its western periphery. From the cen- 
tral point of the Wind River Shoshone, a Christianized modification of 
the ceremony has spread since 1890 to the Shoshone and Ute of Idaho, 
Utah, and Nevada, reaching the last area in 1933 (Hoebel, 1935, 
pp. 578-579). In 1941, the Sun Dance began to spread eastward. 
The Crow Indians, assisted by a Wind River and later a Lemhi 
Shoshone shaman, have revived the ritual with great vigor. 

The Sun Dance appears also to have survived on its northwestern 
and northern margins, among the Kutenai, who have danced a pro- 
foundly modified but non-Christianized version at least as recently as 
the late 1930’s, and among the Plains Cree (Turney-High, 1941, p. 178; 
Mandelbaum, 1940, p. 269). 

The basic pattern of the Sun Dance is highly uniform. Although 
tribal differences are often noteworthy, particularly in regard to the 
social organization, motivations, and mythological connotations as- 
sociated with the dance, many elements are recurrent throughout the 
area of distribution. 

In generalized form, the dance, as performed around 1850, would 
consist of the following: ! 

It would be initiated during the winter months by some man or 
woman who had made a vow to do so or who had received a visionary 
command to initiate the dance. At a suitable moment in late spring 

1 Adapted from Spier, 1921 a and 1921 b. 
403 


404 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLy. 151 


or early summer, the scattered bands of the tribe would gather; often 
they would approach the rendezvous in a ceremonial manner, making 
four stops en route. 

Once the bands of the tribe had assembled in a camp circle, the first 
phase of the rites would begin. A tipi would be pitched in the center 
of the camp circle. Here the pledger and his sponsor, an old man 
with esoteric knowledge of the ritual, who guarded the Sun Dance 
fetich or who otherwise had great supernatural power, would together 
perform the secret preliminaries, purifying themselves, uncovering the 
fetich, and learning sacred songs or ritual paint designs. At this time 
also, a distinguished warrior or group of warriors went to hunt a 
buffalo bull, which had to be killed by a single shot, generally so that 
the animal’s head fell east. The bull’s hide was removed for later 
placement on the center pole. To find the center pole, scouts would 
be sent out to locate a suitable forked tree, which would then be 
‘‘killed”’ and chopped down by a distinguished man, a virtuous woman, 
or a captive. 

In the meantime, a larger number of men would erect a circle of 
10 to 20 posts, possibly 20 yards in diameter, with an entrance to the 
east. The center pole would be brought in, and a bundle of brush, 
the buffalo skin, and possibly other objects such as a Sun Dance doll 
or offerings of cloth would be affixed. Then the pole would be raised 
in place with great formality. Once the center pole had been raised, 
rafters would be strung between the vertical posts, and brush piled 
up against the outer rafters to form a wall. In the lodge an altar 
comprising a painted buffalo skull, smudges of sweet-smelling grass, 
and a screen of branches would be built up on the west side, facing the 
center pole. 

The second phase of the dance would begin with the formal proces- 
sion of the barefooted, kilt-clad, white-painted dancers into the lodge. 
They would take their places on both sides of the altar. Gazing con- 
stantly at the center pole or the sun, they would raise and lower their 
heels, bending their knees, blowing their eagle-humerus whistles at 
every beat of the drum. They would keep on dancing, fasting, and 
thirsting for several days and nights, hoping in this way to get a 
vision or at least to arouse the pity of a supernatural being. 

In both phases of the dance, many associated themes would inter- 
work. The first phase, prior to the dance proper, was generally a time 
for initiation into societies and for lesser rites, as well as for general 
merriment. In the second phase, shamanistic performances including 
curing of the sick and exhibitions of supernatural power would often 
take place. War prestige and wealth would also gain outlets, with 
distinguished warriors recounting their deeds and giving away prop- 
erty at various moments during the ceremony. Finally, among many 


No diy)” WIND RIVER SHOSHONE SUN DANCE—SHIMKIN 405 
tribes, those who had vowed to do so would have themselves pierced 
through the pectoral muscles by skewers by means of which they 
would be tethered to the center pole. They would dance back and 
forth, attempting to tear themselves free, gaining supernatural aid 
through their ecstasy of pain. 

Generally, the gaining of visions, usually by the pledger, would be 
the religious climax of the Sun Dance. The rite often ended abruptly 
after the passage of a prescribed period of dancing. Among some 
groups, minor ceremonies such as hanging children’s clothing on the 
center pole ended the Sun Dance. 

The history of the Sun Dance remains obscure. Spier’s compara- 
tive study has been made partly obsolete by the acquisition of new 
data, although some of his most important conclusions still appear to 
be well founded (Spier, 1921 b). Clements’ (1931) and Driver and 
Kroeber’s (1932) statistical studies simply represent reworkings of 
Spier’s data. Ray has made an important contribution to the prob- 
lem by showing the impressive resemblances between the Sun Dance 
and the Spirit Dance of the Plateau (Ray, 1939, pp. 123-131). Ray’s 
study, coupled with new information on the Sun Dances of the Ku- 
tenai and Kiowa, provides a line of departure for a new attack on this 
historical problem. ? For it is now clear that important resemblances 
exist between those far-removed peripheral Sun Dances, resemblances 
which are found but sporadically in the intermediate areas. 

The striking parallels between the Kutenai and Kiowa Sun Dances 
are the following: 

(1) The Sun Dance leader is the keeper of a Sun Dance doll, which 
is the central source of supernatural power in the dance. 

(2) The leader fasts prior to the beginning of the dance. Among 
the Kutenai, he contemplates the doll, possibly for several months 
prior to the dance, during which time he eats and sleeps as little as 
possible. Among the Kiowa, the sponsor of the dance hangs the sa- 
cred doll on his back, and rides out as a messenger to the various bands. 
During this ride, he is obliged to fast and thirst. 

(3) The center pole is associated with a tabu against touching the 
ground. Among the Kutenai, the cut center-pole tree must not be 
permitted to hit the ground, lest the Sun Dance leader die. Among 
the Kiowa, a shaman treads four times along the length of the cut cen- 
ter-pole tree. Should he lose his balance and touch the ground, dis- 
aster would come to the tribe. 

(4) Once the center pole has been erected, a man climbs up it. 
This appears to reflect the Bird-Man concept so strikingly developed 
in the Crow Sun Dance. As among the Crow, the Kiowa pole-mount- 


2 For the Kutenai, see Ray (1939) and Turney-High (1941); for the Kiowa, see Hunt (1934), particularly 
for references to center-pole ritual, and Scott (1911) and Spier (1921 a). 


406 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLn. 151 


er has ritual functions, for he prays from the top of the pole. Among 
the Kutenai, his functions appear to be mundane, yet it should be not- 
ed that the Bluejay dancer in the Spirit Dance of Plateau tribes closely 
related to the Kutenai performs rites comparable to the Crow Bird- 
Man. 

(5) Within the Sun Dance lodge, a screen of branches and a number 
of incense smudges form part of the ritual paraphernalia. 

(6) The Sun Dancers fast and thirst, but torture is avoided. 

(7) The climax of the Sun Dance is reached when supernatural 
power transmitted through a feather “‘kills’” the dancers. Among the 
Kiowa, the Sun Dance leader, with a road-runner fan held in his hands, 
chases the dancers and “kills” them. Among the Kutenai, the sha- 
mans stroke the center pole with a feather to brush away the concen- 
trated ailments of the tribe. This act causes the dancers to fall help- 
less to the ground, so that they must be revived by smudging. 

(8) In both groups, the name for the Sun Dance probably refers to 
the structure in which the dance is held. This fact has been specifical- 
ly established for the Kiowa, and is inferential for the Kutenai al- 
though unrecorded up to this time. (The Spirit Dance of the Flat- 
head, which greatly resembles the Kutenai Sun Dance, is called by a 
name referring to the lodge.) (Ray, 1939, p. 130.) 

These comparisons provide a tentative basis for reconstructing the 
early form of the Sun Dance. This early form may also have included 
a number of other elements, the antiquity of which is testified to by 
their wide distribution not only in the Plains but also in the Plateau 
Spirit Dance (as cited by Ray, 1939, pp. 128-131). Such elements are 
the division of the dance into a preparatory phase, usually secret, and a 
final, public phase, each 4 days in duration. Ceremonial sweating 
prior to the dance is another such association; still others are brush or 
uncut branches on the center pole (with “nest” symbolism), offerings to 
the center pole, and dancers being provided with whistles and painted 
with white and yellow. Ritualistic elements connected with the 
buffalo, such as the buffalo hide on the center pole and the buffalo 
skull on the altar, may also be ancient, but the evidence is by no means 
certain. 

The reconstruction developed above may now be collated with other 
evidence. Both Spier and Kroeber have advanced powerful arguments 
for the view that the original center of the Sun Dance rests with the 
Plains Algonquians, especially the Arapaho and Cheyenne (Spier, 
1921 b, p. 498; Driver and Kroeber, 1932, p. 235). Since no contrary 
evidence exists, these arguments may beaccepted. Furthermore, Spier 
has given presumptive evidence that the Sun Dance had its origin 
among a nomadic people, for the village tribes built a special structure 
for the Sun Dance, whereas their other important ceremonies were al- 


NO di], ~~) WIND RIVER SHOSHONE SUN DANCE—SHIMKIN 4(07 


most always held in the permanent medicine lodges. While the history 
of the Arapaho is not known, the Cheyenne were village people until 
1750, and became full-fledged nomads only toward the end of the 
eighteenth century (Strong, 1940, pp. 370-376). This fact reinforces 
Kroeber’s view concerning the relative recency of the Sun Dance com- 
plex (Kroeber, 1939, pp. 77-78). 

Nevertheless, by 1750 to 1765 the Kiowa appear to have borrowed 
the Sun Dance doll and probably other basic elements of the ceremony 
from the Crow (Scott, 1911, pp. 369-370; Mooney, 1898, p. 155). 
The deep infiltration and readjustment to Sun Dance elements on the 
Plateau likewise argues for a respectable antiquity in that area. Con- 
sequently, if the Sun Dance did originate as late as 1700, it must have 
been diffused with great rapidity. 

Subsequent to this initial rapid diffusion, great elaboration of the 
original ritual appears to have developed in at least three centers—the 
Arapaho-Cheyenne, the Blackfoot, and the Dakota. The first center, 
possibly affected by eastern and southern influences, may have con- 
tributed the concept of a vow as the basis of the Sun Dance, a complex 
mythology and symbolism; sand painting, lodge-pole painting, and 
varied series of face and body paintings; fraternity control of the cere- 
mony, with adoption and wife exchange; as well as other details such 
as the sunrise ceremony. In the second center might have grown up a 
great enrichment of ties with the buffalo—especially the tongue ritual; 
elaboration of outlets for war prestige and wealth through ostentatious 
property disposal; and lesser items such as plumes suspended from the 
dancers’ little fingers. Spier has demonstrated the likelihood of a 
Dakota origin for the torture elements. 

Beyond and above these three centers, every tribe invented refine- 
ments of its own, which exercised a greater or less influence on its 
neighbors. The Sun Dance was inherently unstable.? In the first 
place, the great migrations of Plains tribes, such as those of the Kiowa 
and the Comanche, exposed them to varied cultural influences. Fur- 
thermore, individual travels greatly widened the range of contacts 
and the possibilities of far-reaching loans. Thus, Kiowa and Coman- 
che visited the Mandan villages in 1802, Crow raided central Colorado 
in 1821, and early travelers met the Wyoming Shoshone on the Colo- 
rado River south of the San Juan in 1826. (Parsley in Coues, 1895, 
vol. 2, p. 757; Coues, 1898, pp. 51 ff.; Pattie, 1906, pp. 138-139.) Sec- 
ondly, the Sun Dance is at present, and appears to have been in the 
past, a vehicle of intertribal participation. Dorsey has noted the long- 


3 Note Kroeber (1939, pp. 77-78) for the instability of the age-grade societies. 
4 For a discussion of Kiowa migrations, see Kroeber (1939, p. 80), where he cites the primary sources. 
For the Comanche, see Shimkin (1941). 


909871—52 27 


408 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLL. 151 


continued participation of Arapahoes and Cheyennes in each other’s 
Sun Dances (Dorsey, 1903, p. 23; also 1905, pp. 155 ff.). Thirdly, the vi- 
sion component in the Sun Dance among many tribes provides an un- 
usual opportunity for variability. Finally, this variability is increased 
by the fact that, among many tribes, the Sun Dance is performed at ir- 
regular instances, often years apart.° Thus such instability as Spier 
(1921 b, pp. 493-494) noted among the Dakota has unquestionably 
been widespread. This fact makes the tracing of the detailed relations 
between the Sun Dances of various tribes exceedingly difficult. It 
appears to be reasonably well established that the Sun Dances of the 
following tribes share significant resemblances: Arapaho, Northern 
Cheyenne, and Southern Cheyenne; Blackfoot and Sarsi; Ponea and 
Oglala; Assiniboine, Plains Cree, and Plains Ojibway; Canadian Da- 
kota and Sisseton Dakota; Wind River Shoshone, Ute, and Hekandika 
Shoshone; Wind River Shoshone and Kiowa. The historical signifi- 
cance of these resemblances is by no means clear; in each instance, it is 
essential to weigh known historical facts and tribal traditions as well 
as resemblances and differences in the forms of the Sun Dance. 

In brief, the Sun Dance complex extended throughout the Plains 
in the middle of the nineteenth century. At present, it survives on 
the northern and western peripheries, and has diffused recently into 
the Basin, as well as reviving among the Crow. The typical form of 
the Sun Dance in the mid-nineteenth century, as known from the 
Arapaho, Dakota, and other centrally located tribes, appears to be 
considerably changed from its earlier form as reconstructed through 
comparison of two far-removed peripheral Sun Dances, the Kiowa 
and Kutenai. 

The Sun Dance appears to have originated among the Algonquian 
Plains tribes, most probably the Arapaho and Cheyenne, possibly 
no earlier than the first half of the eighteenth century. It diffused 
very rapidly, its spread being aided by the movements of tribes away 
from the Northern Plains (Kiowa) and into them (Dakota, Plains 
Cree, etc.). Subsequent to initial crystallization and diffusion, 
secondary centers of elaboration and diffusion arose, especially among 
the Arapaho, Blackfoot, and Dakota. These secondary diffusions 
and the inherent instability of Plains culture, especially the Sun 
Dance, make detailed reconstruction of the spread of the institution 
extremely difficult. For instance, it has been believed that the Wind 
River Shoshone borrowed the Sun Dance from the Arapaho. In 
fact, it appears that the Shoshone derived their Sun Dance from the 
Kiowa via the Comanche, with subsequent strong influence from the 
Arapaho and lesser influences from the Blackfoot or Crow. 


5 For example, among the Crow, ef. Lowie (1915 a, p. 10); and among the Comanche, ef. Linton (1935, p, 
420). 


No ui), F{? WIND RIVER SHOSHONE SUN DANCE—SHIMKIN 409 
ORIGINS OF THE WIND RIVER SHOSHONE SUN DANCE 


Within the framework of the history of the Sun Dance complex, as 
reconstructed in broad terms above, the origins of the Wind River 
Shoshone Sun Dance may be delineated to some degree, although the 
earliest direct reference to the ceremony among the Shoshone dates 
only to 1880.6 Through examination of Wind River Shoshone tra- 
ditions, of the known historical geography of the Plains and of com- 
parisons between Shoshone and other Sun Dances, it is possible to 
arrive at a number of tentative conclusions. 

Wind River Shoshone traditions concerning the origin of the Sun 
Dance are unusually explicit and uniform. They ascribe the first 
Sun Dance to a renowned chief and shaman named Yellow Hand 
(Ohamagwaya), the father, grandfather, and great-grandfather of two 
deceased and one living (1938) Sun Dance leaders. He is reputed by 
one informant to have been a Comanche, although another claimed 
that he was a Crow Indian. The first Wind River Shoshone Sun 
Dance supposedly took place either in the Green River country or in 
the Big Horn Mountains. Its inspiration was the vision of an old 
whiteman. Traditions regarding the Sun Dance were given by inform- 
ants as follows: 

JM’ born ca. 1872: 

The main Sun Dance originated here, longago. My great-grandfather Ohamag- 
waya said: “TI am going to look for bax [Power].’”’ He had a buffalo robe, and he 
painted this grey with white clay. Then, in the evening he went to a butte near 
Rawlins [Wyoming] and slept there overnight. There were no pictographs8 there, 
but a man came from heaven and told him: ‘‘You are looking for great power. 
I'll tell you what to do. Get a center, forked cottonwood tree and twelve poles; 
build them like a tipi. Get willows and lean them against the poles. The center 
pole will represent God; the twelve posts, God’s friends. 

“Get a two-year-old buffalo; face it west. Get an eagle; face it east. If anyone 
sick goes in, the buffalo will help him, with good power from the Sun. So will 
the eagle. Keep the buffalo’s hide in shape with a bundle of willows. The cross- 
sticks will represent the Cross. 

“The first time we’re going to dance, only five men will dance.” 

This agrees well with the account given to Lowie (1919, pp. 396- 
397), although Andy Bresil’s (Bazil’s) great-grandfather would have 
been JM’s great-great-grandfather. He writes: 

According to Wawanabidi the Sun Dance is the oldest and foremost of Shoshone 
ceremonies. It was first performed by Andy’s great-grandfather before there were 
any white men in the country. He found a picture of a white man, looked at it 
and kept it, putting it away. He began to dream of the picture which bade him 
have a Sun Dance and described the ceremony to him. His son kept the picture 


6 Hebard (1930, p. 295); Clark (1885, p. 363) also mentions this ceremony among the Shoshone. 
7 For the identifications of informants and data concerning them, see Appendix 2. 
8 The commonest way of gaining visionary power among the Wind River Shoshone was to sleep overnight 


by pictographs. 


410 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLy. 151 


but since his death it is not known what happened to it ... Washakie, the old 
Shoshone chief, told Wawanabidi the foregoing facts. The founder omitted the 
dance the second summer, but the picture insisted on his celebrating it every year 
as a sacred ceremony. At times it changed from a darker to a lighter shade. At 
first the owner could not understand it but he concluded that it was supernatural 
and that if he obeyed it he should live well and happy while otherwise he should 
not live long. Whenever an Indian wanted to see it, several would sit round with 
Sun Dance whistles and blow them, then the owner would take it out from its 
wrappings. In the old days the dance was held when the high water went down. 
The founder himself conducted the ceremony every year, but after him they took 
turns. 


Lowie also states: 


Barney ascribed the origin of the ceremony to a Shoshone who dreamt about it 
and was ordered to arrange it so as to attain happiness and longevity. [Lowie, 
1919, p. 400.] 


MT, born ca. 1852: 


Old Man Barney’s mother once said that Ohamagwaya was the first man she 
knew to put up a Sun Dance, around the Green River country. But she had 
heard that the Sun Dance came from way back, even before his time. MT’s father 
told him that the Sun Dance came with the Shoshone when they were created. It 
was their way of worship. 


QQ, born ca. 1861: 


The first man to dance the Sun Dance was Ohamagwaya. A buffalo bull told 
him to have it. Then an old, white-haired man came to him and told him the 
same. From then onit has been continued. He painted the first Sun Dance doll. 
Because he did that they also kept that up. 


PT, born ca. 1860: 


A gray-headed white man said that people should dance the Sun Dance. That’s 
why they do it now, 


PP, born ca. 1855: 


The 3a:SoSoni (‘‘Good Shoshone’’) came from the Comanches long ago. About 
five or six families of them, Bazil [Pa:si] (Sacajawea’s son), Witchie, Sarigant, 
Ohamagwaya .. . they had horses. The Shoshone first Sun Danced in the Big 
Horn mountains, 


CW, born in 1873: 


Ohamagwaya adopted Washakie. He was a chief and a medicine man. He 
was the first man ever to start the Sun Dance. 
Voget writes: ** 


[John Truhujo] also claimed that his variant [of the Sun Dance] had been 
originated by his great-great-grandfather, Yellow-Hand, a Crow Indian who had 
introduced the Sun Dance to the Shoshone. 

Hebard’s informant gave her rather curious, somewhat garbled, 
information, partially in agreement with other sources, and partially 
at variance. She quotes Andy Bazil (Bresil): 


8a Dr. Fred Voget, personal communication. 


No ui), «6 WIND RIVER SHOSHONE SUN DANCE—SHIMKIN 411] 


My grandmother [allegedly Sacajawea] introduced the Sun Dance among this 
tribe when she came back [from the Comanche], and my father Bazil [Pa:si] was 
made leader of that dance by my grandmother. I am today considered the leader 
of that dance because my grandmother originated the dance here. [Hebard, 1933, 
pp. 259-260.] 


Elsewhere, Hebard states that Sacajawea was the aunt and foster- 
mother of Bazil (Pa:si), the son of her eldest sister; and that Bazil was 
born about 1802. (Hebard, 1930, pp. 64-67, 169-170.) Furthermore 
she claims that Bazil officiated at the first Sun Dance given by the 
Shoshone Indians of the Bridger Basin, where Washakie was chief. 
(Op. cit., p. 291.) 

Hebard does not reconcile these reports with the statement which 
she obtained from DW: 


From old tradition that has been handed down about two centuries to the 
present time I have learned that the Sun Dance was first introduced to the tribe 
of Shoshone Indians about two hundred years ago, or about the year 1726. 
[Hebard, 1930, p. 292.] 


Do these traditions have a historical basis? Genealogical infor- 
mation received from PS, and checked with other informants, 
indicates that Yellow Hand was in fact the common ancestor of 
Pa:si or Bazil, Andrew Bresil, John McAdams (JM), and John Tru- 
hujo (fig. 20). Yellow Hand’s son Pa:si was first mentioned in histori- 
cal records in 1856, and frequently thereafter. In 1856 he was 
already a mature man, with several wives: 


Baziel [Pa:si], one of the Snakes who had lived in the fort with us during the last 
year, has raised about thirty bushels of wheat and some vegetables. He and his 
squaws have harvested it clean and neat... . [Hebard, 1930, p. 80.] 


Yellow Hand appears to be mentioned in two early records. Ross, 
in relating his travels in Idaho and northwestern Wyoming in 1818-20, 
states: 


[McKenzie] fell in with the main body of the great Snake Nation, headed by 
the two principal chiefs, Pee-eye-em and Ama-qui-em. . . . The whole of this 
assemblage of camps was governed by the voice of two great chiefs, Pee-eye-em 
and Ama-qui-em, who were brothers, and both fine-looking, middle-aged men; 
the former was six feet two inches high, the latter above six feet, and both stout 
in proportion. . . . Trade was no sooner over, than Ama-qui-em mounted one of 
his horses and rode round and round the camp—which of itself was almost the 
work of a day—now and then making a halt to harangue the Indians respecting 
the peace, and their behavior towards the whites, and telling them to prepare for 
raising camp. ‘Three days successively this duty was performed by the chief, 
and in the morning of the fourth all the Shirry-dikas decamped in a body, and 
returned in the direction whence they came. . . . The Shirry-dikas are the real 
Sho-sho-nes, and live in the plains, hunting the buffalo. They are generally 
slender, but tall, well-made, rich in horses, good warriors, well-dressed, clean in 
their camps, and in their personal appearance bold and independent. [Ross, 
1855, vol. 1, pp. 248, 249, 253, 259.] 


® See references cited in Hebard (1930 and 1938). 


[BuLL, 151 


BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 


412 


1Usa4g MaLpup 


(‘SolTezr Ul oIB SIOpvo] OOUB UNG) “puB]] MOT[OX 10 BABAZeUTBYGC JO esBoul] OY T—'O% B1N3IT 


(ZL81 W10q) suBspyoyy uyory 


epequis:ed § —= (e}1qM) swBpyow se wo 


2 ee 


ere ee 
| 
defpou 6 


(E481 U10q) (4881 W410q) 


Asoe 6 eee 


optinay, eof © == r1quiednp 


‘ofnqniy, pus o10yeiy, 8B UAMOUY OSV ee 
“SPST U10g ‘Sq ULY} Jeplo pus 0} pole. 


+ (OF8T “9 us0q) 
TOnMNM 


ee 5 3a eee 
| 


(988T Pep) 28:pd,p 


(¢9-09LT *89 UI0gG) DkoMbowdyo,0 


o31q & 


No di} «WIND RIVER SHOSHONE SUN DANCE—SHIMKIN 413 


The linguistic identification of Ross’ ‘‘Ama-qui-em” and Ohamag- 
waya or Yellow Hand seems extremely probable, especially since the 
time and area coincide. 

The other record is Anza’s report of a conference with Comanche 
leaders to sign a treaty against the Apache on February 28, 1786, at 
Santa Fe (Thomas, 1929). Anza lists the names of all the important 
personages, including ‘“‘Oxamaguea,” the son of the chief of the 
Kuéandika, and an interpreter or go-between. The Kuéandika 
band of Comanche at that time frequented the country between the 
Arkansas and Red Rivers, and numbered 157 tents. North of them 
were the Yamparika, who lived between present northern Colorado 
and the Arkansas River, and the Yupé, who extended as far as the 
southern part of present Wyoming. Representatives of the two 
latter bands were also present at the meeting with Anza. 

Does Anza’s report actually refer to the Ohamagwaya of Shoshone 
tradition? The linguistic identification is unquestionable. The cir- 
cumstance of age shows no discrepancy: if Yellow Hand was born, 
say in 1760-65, he would have been a young man in 1786 and in late 
middle age by 1820, the date of Ross’ account. Yellow Hand’s son 
Pa:si, born presumably about 1810, would have been a child of ma- 
turity but not of improbable senescence. Russel’s account of 1842 
lists chiefs other than Yellow Hand, so he had probably died prior to 
that date, having lived to his late 60’s or early 70’s (Russel, 1921, 
pp. 114-115.) New Mexico and Idaho are far removed, it is true, 
yet such travels have been made repeatedly by Shoshone and other 
Plains Indians. And certainly a chief’s son from among the Coman- 
che, fresh from Spanish contacts, would be in a position to rise to 
high rank among his more remote Shoshone kinsmen. 

In short, it appears that Wind River Shoshone traditions have a 
substantial historical foundation. Yellow Hand did apparently 
come from the Comanches, presumably about 1800, and did rise to 
be a great Shoshone chief by 1820. But did he actually introduce 
the Sun Dance? 

The historical geography of the Plains provides some evidence on 
the probability of this event. The pertinent facts are the following: 
The Shoshone and Comanche, a single people up to about 1800, were 
fully established on the Plains by the early eighteenth century. The 
Shoshone were fighting with the Blackfeet in Saskatchewan as early 
as 1730 (Shimkin, 1941). Thus opportunities for an early trans- 
mittal of the Sun Dance from the Algonquians to the Shoshone existed ; 
no proof is available, however, that such a transmittal ever took 
place. Deriving the Shoshone Sun Dance from the Comanche pre- 
sents difficulties, since the Sun Dance was never deeply embedded in 
Comanche culture. Moreover, as will be shown below, the Comanche 


414 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLL. 151 


Sun Dance lacked important traits such as the Sun Dance doll, 
which typified the early Shoshone rite. On the other hand, both 
Shoshone and Comanche Sun Dances clearly resemble the Kiowa 
ceremony, which is the most likely origin, especially since the Kiowa 
were the firm allies and constant companions of the Comanche from 
1790 on (Mooney, 1898, pp. 161-165). Consequently, it would have 
been possible for Yellow Hand to have acquainted himself with the 
Kiowa ritual and transmitted it to the Shoshone, especially if the 
latter already had some prior acquaintance with the Sun Dance. 
This derivation of the Shoshone Sun Dance is strengthened by the 
curious association of both the Shoshone and Comanche rites with a 
white man, a feature almost certainly of Christian and probably 
Spanish origin. (For the Comanche, see Linton, 1935.) 

These conclusions collide sharply with those of Spier, which are 
based only on comparisons of Sun Dance forms, and of Clements 
(1931), and Driver and Kroeber (1932), which are based upon statis- 
tical reworking of Spier’s data. Spier is torn between the Gros Ventre 
and the Arapaho as the originators of the Shoshone Sun Dance, finally 
deciding in favor of the Gros Ventre. Clements derives the Wind 
River ceremony from the Arapaho, but also notes a relatively high 
Shoshone-Kiowa correlation. Driver and Kroeber come out flatly 
for an Arapaho origin. 

But it must be recognized that Spier did not have available any 
data on the Kutenai or Comanche, or full data on the Wind River 
Shoshone, Kiowa, or Plains Cree. Furthermore, his element list did 
not sum up his data completely; his interpretation was qualitative in 
character and stressed resemblances, with insufficient attention to 
differences. 

A more balanced trait list with fuller information included is pre- 
sented below. The statistical results differ fundamentally from 
those of Clements, and Driver and Kroeber; this illustrates the extreme 
unreliability of the statistical analysis of small element lists (i.e., 
where the number of elements listed is less than 500),!! and the im- 
perative necessity of examining the composition of each correlation 
(i.e., whether based upon a large number of mutual presences or of 
mutual absences, etc.) and hence the inferences that may be derived 
therefrom. At best, the statistical presentation and quantitative 
analysis of small element lists simply represent the numerical ex- 
pressions of the historical and ethnographic judgment of the author. 


10 This list is based upon Shimkin’s field work, St. Clair (Appendix 1), Lowie (1915 a, 1919, 1935), Hunt 
(1934), Scott (1911), Spier (1921 a and b), Linton (1935), Dorsey (1903), Kroeber (1902-1904), Walker (1917), 
Wissler (1918), Mandelbaum (1940), Turney-High (1941), and Ray (1939). 

11 See Chretien (1945) for an outstanding critique of quantitative methods in ethnography. 


AD EAP. 
No. 41]... WIND RIVER SHOSHONE SUN DANCE—SHIMKIN 415 


This is frankly and solely the purpose of the statistical analysis in 
the present instance. 


TaBLE 1.—Comparison of the Wind River Shoshone and other Sun Dances 1 


3 
Tee) ° 
e268 2 2 = 
Say aq & (3) °o Q [o) oO — 
Elements al os q q Ko} a 
oom! & S g 4 = a A 8 
Sao, 8 |B |ezlalelszial|3 
5 ae (dt ee ce mt I melon 
aiNamesSacrifice'lodge 2. 2-=2=4-22—- 2. -=2.5 = x 0 x - >< 0 _ (X) 
2 Stn-gazine dance-se-222=5 2. oes eee = - 0 _ x = 0 = as 
3 TMhirshineidance: =a. =i) sae ks x - 0 _ — — 0 x = 
4, Vision needed to give dance___------------ x x x1 CO 1C) | = = x x 
5. Vow is basis for dance = = || ter] x x x< x x = 
6. Medicine bundle essential x xX | Xx = x Xx _ x 
7 Includes Sun Dance doll x x (—) - — x - — x 
8 Bundle transfer to sponsor------------ = = (—) x = x x = — 
9, Sun Dance sponsor fasts prior to dance__-_-- 0 x 0 (=) | @) x x 0 x 
10. Band makes 4 ritual stops en route to Sun = x x 0 (X) x x 0 — 
Dance. 
hieePrelimimaryiti pi.) =~ 2- - 29 228s --fsse-- = x < 0 x < x x x = 
12. Women assist in ritual__.-_--.------- = = 0 <P 1 GSFrin >< = =s 
13. IN Gee ee Se a et ed ee oc x 0 x oe Pal x x _ 
14, Drumming on hides: _ 2222-22. 2222. = x 0 = 1) (Tes Xx — 
15. Buffalo tongues accumulated______.-------- x — |/(-)] - St xi X 1OO1oOg 
16. PRON PuUe Casts as eames i ee x - Sk x x ox (—) x 
17. AV OWA OL Wintle@@. <2- == -a5-- 5 seaen5 = = iC) ye x — x - _ 
1S eRitpalibmiialonints-2- 227s e" Pet x x x x = x x — _ 
19. Wihole’skin' taken. -2--..-....2--=-=---- = = 0 x = * x _ = 
20. Back strip only taken___----.--------- x Xx 0 = = _ — - - 
21. WNRONES CH tes 222 nonce <o2- ese ss wa oee- = = 0 = = = x = - 
Center-pole cutting: 
22. Returning scouts met___.--.----------- xX = 0 x x - - x - 
23. Sham'battle. =) ek Sow ek Ste x x 0 x x - _ _ - 
24. Virtuous woman tree feller____-_------ = — x (X) Xx x - - 0 
25. Captive tree feller.----.-2£ 5-2-2522 = Xx ee) ee x = = - 
26. Couptcounted on trees. _- ==. -- = = x - 0 x — x x Bg ~ 
27. Strippineitwics: (sess. 2 oe eee x = 0 x x = x = _ 
28. idin doubles ea nse ee x x 0 = = — - x = 
Center pole decorated with: 
29. shi Dundles Ne ee A x x x x x x x x - 
30 tir aloskine ss sa> = ae See ee eases x x x x x x _ - = 
Bie Sopp an cod oll 22 2 See x - — — (X) - - _ ~ 
32. Clot hee Soe ies ea ess x x 0 x x = x x x 
33. Misr inShiCksa-s— te eS x x U x _ _ x - _ 
34, Pai Ge eet ene eee eee cee SESE x 0 0 x xX xX x — x 
35. Feints in raising center pole_______-_--____- x = x x x x = = x 
36. Center pole raised by magic_____.---____- — - ©) Xx - - x < — 
37. Center pole mounted __----.....---.-----.- x 0 = — x x x < 
38. Center pole tabu on touching ground_______ (—) OS 0 _ 0 — _- _ pe 
39. Dance dndee: roofed enclosure____..----__-- x x x — — xX x - 
40. LiL V0) ee age ee ee eee aa eee = = = = = x = = x 
41, Altar: Buitalo yd) EA NE Ce SR ee = x (—) x xX oe i x - 
Ate sae DCS aee eee eee a ill a8 a aes) Ul aa bal a heal Ni 
43. ixcavationic=<—- = s2-_2 53s Boe = SST Kyi es XN CO ox x | (&X) 
44, Dereemer sce eee set et ase eee een x x x x x _ x x x 
45.)Preliminarydance=2- - —2-==.+ ---4s. 45..<- = x x X x x oa — - 
46; Sun Daricers’ fraternity. 2222-02 = - = x x - x - =- 
47. Dancers: Sage adornment___---_____-_____ x x 0 < = - x = (—) 
48. NPM planes a eh ee eee x — Pea = = x x ai) 
49. Wihite paints - 22. ee ee 2d x x 0 < - < _ - = 
50. NUCCOSSIV.G) PAINS =e ee eee eee x x = x _ - _ — x 
51. Incoming procession and blessing__-._____- x — 0 x x = x = = 
52. Dancers’ footsteps brushed away--_-_-______ Kerrey) Feo "20 0 0 x 
bamSunpriseidances: 6 ot. se a Ee x iG) aX x = = = = 
Shamanistic performances: 
54. Water from center pole x< it oS) Pal Gout ok - 
55. Weather control_________- SAE KE ES) | (al RO COa ht — 
56. Clairvoyance 2 (Sy (IS) I Kas 1 Ey |] ye 
57. Supernatural power via feather “kills” 
SCOR XS WiC) Ila = = (ey = x 
| o- _ = x x Xx x x = 
59. Flesh sacrifices_ 4 = - = = x x x x = 
pp IWismrion Sire me = cto 2 be se = Ja ee mmo x = gC) || X = x x x = 
Hey Marsierced 5 222s: 3. = ee ee - - (—) x x< - - - - 
oa. Sextialieenser <= - Ses Me oe ee = — | () x x - _ = — 


See footnote at end of table. 


416 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLL. 151 


TaBLE 1.—Comparison of the Wind River Shoshone and other Sun 
Dances \—Continued 


8s 
ey ey ro} 
eae elit No cons 2 | 8 
Elements ie iter 5S a A s | 0 3 
gou| £ a gq = > ad a a 
Sao] 6 S 3 io 5 SS aS | 2 
aS ar S & tp & a} S is 
= MIS} Oe toe] or 4] ey ees 
63. Children’s clothing offered _-__----_------- x x x xX | 1 = 1oO)}) = 
64;¢Spectators: blessed 4-25. 2-3 eee x —- a ie a Ged I Ged A — 
65. Dancers drink prepared drink-~------_-_-- xX x 0 <x = = _ _ 
Correlation with Wind River Shoshone (2)-| — |+.42 |4+.24 }+.08 - 32 |—.40 |—.14 |+.09 + 24 
Total similarities: 
Mutual presences (<<) -2-----22--2--==5- = 1 9 25 15 15 20 15 13 
Mutual absences (——)------------------- = 17 12 9 11 10 9 16 19 
Motel: | 2360532) Se ee Se _ 38 21 34 26 25 29 31 32 
Total differences: 
Absence-presence (X—)-_----------------- — 16 13 13 23 22 16 22 25 
Presence-absence (—X).------------------ = 9 5 16 14 16 15 9 6 
Total 3-24.45. S=2- 8 ee = 25 18 29 37 38 31 31 31 


1 Symbols: X, present; —, absent; (X), presumed-present, occasionally present; (—), presumed absent; 
0, no information, or information is contradictory. 
3 Gp awete where a,b, c,d, are respectively the sums of mutual presences, presences and absences, ab- 


adXbe 
sences and presences, and mutual absences for the two groups correlated. 


In other words, I believe that the Wind River Shoshone Sun Dance 
is highly differentiated, but shows closest resemblance to the Kiowa, 
whence it was largely derived. The common derivation from the 
Kiowa explains resemblances to the Comanche, resemblances which 
would probably be greater with fuller information. In regard to the 
Kutenai, the bulk of the similarities are mutual absences, which orig- 
inate largely from the conservative, peripheral character of both cere- 
monies. Nevertheless, some Kutenai-Shoshone contacts are possible 
(especially via the Flathead) and may account for the sharing of such 
specialized traits as sweeping away the dancers’ tracks. Much of 
the resemblance between the dances of the Plains Cree and their 
neighbors can also be explained on the basis of the marginal character 
of their Sun Dances. But here evidence of contact, and particularly 
very recent contact, is stronger, as Spier has pointed out. In my 
opinion, however, common features such as the name “Thirsting 
Dance’ and the prayer for the spectators represent Shoshone influences 
on the north rather than the reverse. On the other hand, northern in- 
fluences from the Blackfoot or Crow do appear to be represented by such 
elements as counting coup on the center-post tree, the buffalo-tongue 
feast, the warrior’s fire, and finger plumes. Finally, while the Arapaho 
and Shoshone exhibit many profound differences especially ascribable 
to the richer development of the Arapaho ceremony, Arapaho influence 
on the Wind River Shoshone Sun Dance has been strong: stripping 


No di]. «6 WIND RIVER SHOSHONE SUN DANCE—SHIMKIN 417 


twigs from the center-pole tree; the procession and blessing at the begin- 
ning of the Sun Dance proper; the sunrise ceremony; and the concept of 
drawing water from the center pole—these probably represent loans 
from Arapaho to Shoshone. 

The traditional, historical, and comparative data discussed above 
can now be summarized into a reconstructed history of the Wind 
River Shoshone Sun Dance: 

(1) During the eighteenth century, Shoshone contacts with Algon- 
quian Plains tribes probably gave the former an acquaintance with the 
Sun Dance, and prepared the ground for diffusion. 

(2) Around 1790, a prominent young Comanche, Yellow Hand, be- 
came thoroughly acquainted with the Kiowa Sun Dance and gained 
some knowledge of Christian concepts from the Spaniards. 

(3) Some time later, possibly by 1800, Yellow Hand moved north to 
the Eastern Shoshone (who became the Wind River Shoshone under 
Washakie in the nineteenth century). Yellow Hand introduced the 
new ceremony—or possibly a new and dominant variant of an already 
known ceremony—to the Eastern Shoshone. 

(4) During his lifetime, Yellow Hand was the usual leader of the 
Sun Dance. After his death, leadership of the Sun Dance concentrat- 
ed largely in his lineage, with his son Pa:si and his grandson, Andrew 
Bresil, being the customary Sun Dance leaders. 

(5) During the nineteenth century, up to the end of Shoshone 
nomadism in 1880-85, other influences in addition to the original Kiowa 
via Comanche impulse modified the Wind River Sun Dance. The 
most important of these came from the Arapaho and Crow or Black- 
foot. The Shoshone, in their turn were the major sources of the Ban- 
nock and Ute Sun Dances, and may have influenced the Plains Cree 
of the far northern Plains. 

(6) During the nineteenth century, the Shoshone developed a num- 
ber of features in the Sun Dance peculiar to themselves, such as the 
preliminary hole-digging ceremony. They also adapted elements 
from other tribes. ‘Thus the Shoshone Magpie ceremony is simply a 
secular, mischievous children’s diversion among the Crow. Among 
the Shoshone, furthermore, the order of many details has been trans- 
posed. For example, the feast on tongues is generally after the dance, 
rather than before or during the dance, as among the Blackfoot and 
Crow. 


THE EARLY SHOSHONE SUN DANCE: RECONSTRUCTION 


As the result of the series of loans and developments described above, 
the Shoshone evolved a reasonably stable ceremony, probably by 1820 
or 1830. This continued without major changes until about 1880. 
The main features of the ceremony were the following: 


418 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLL. 151 


The Sun Dance or, literally, “Standing in Thirst” (faguwénér) was 
directed by a shaman (or one of a small group of shamans) who had 
gained this right partly through paternal inheritance, partly through 
repeated participation, and partly through recognition of his super- 
natural powers. Each winter or somewhat less frequently, this sha- 
man would announce that he had seen a vision, usually of an old man, 
in which he had been commanded to give a Sun Dance on pain of illness 
or death, the usual sanctions for the disobedience of supernatural or- 
ders. The shaman was to supplicate for success in war, relief from 
illness, long life, and good luck. 

As summer approached, messengers who were required neither to 
have special qualification nor to fast or perform ritual acts were 
sent out to all the bands of the Wind River Shoshone and to friendly 
related groups such as the Doyahin or Mountain Shoshone.’? Some- 
time in June these bands would gather (without any set number of 
stops en route, or any other rites), probably at Wind River, on the 
way to the summer rendezvous with the trappers at Bridger Basin or 
Pierre’s Hole. (Shimkin, 1938, 1942.) 

At an undetermined time before the Sun Dance, the leader com- 
missioned a special carver known for his ability (such a one was Paix- 
waci) to prepare the Sun Dance doll. The carver prayed to Our Fa- 
ther (damé’ap:é) and then prepared the image, a wooden head painted 
red, with a feather stuck in back. MT did not know more about this 
head or its significance, which is suggested by TC to be the “Spirit of 
the Sun Dance” (MT, TC, JM, GR). PT adds that it was a woman’s 
head and picture, about 8 inches high. A single informant described 
a doll of Crow style. PS said the doll was of buckskin, painted yellow 
or white, and had no feathers on it. And QQ remarked that the doll 
was left on the Sun Dance center pole when the lodge was abandoned, 
so that a new doll had to be prepared each year. 

Once the tribe was together and camped in a rough, unordered circle, 
the prospective Sun Dance leader pitched his tipi in its center. A few 
days later, he went east of the leader’s tipi a hundred yards and more 
with a number of old warriors who had repeatedly counted coup. One 
of the old men had a digging stick. They alined themselves exactly 
east of the leader’s tipi by the sun, for it was then early in the morning. 

At this time the old man with the digging stick prayed: " 

us n:di’siz timp do’ tiwikhendé’ 3a:nk 
That is / the-great / rock / (that which) dug out-will be / well / 
pénkhaint gé/aro marigéaro 
(this) place-from / go out-will // (That) those visible here will go out 
3aink pé’nkhaind ndniSundhengén us Sufega 
well / (this) place-from/ (Iam) praying // That is / ended 


12 According to PT, a Doya. 
18 According to QQ, GR interpreting, 


No di}. «WIND RIVER SHOSHONE SUN DANCE—SHIMKIN 419 

More freely, ‘“That is the great rock to be well dug out, to go out 
from (its) place. That the people here will go out well from this 
place, for that (I) am praying. That is ended.” 

After this, the old man arranged the excavated rocks in a neat pile 
into which he stuck the digging stick. (The pit symbolized the 
trench dug by warriors during battle, according to TC.) The digging 
stick was left in the pit. 

Probably the same night, the Sun Dance leader and a few com- 
panions begin practicing Sun Dance songs, some of which had been 
dreamed—not necessarily by the Sun Dance leader—during the past 
winter. Dancing also would be practiced, but there is no evidence 
that complex preparatory rituals like those of the Arapaho, Cheyenne, 
or Crow took place (Lowie, 1915 a; Dorsey, 1903 and 1905). The 
preparatory singing and dancing lasted for either 3 or 4 nights, the 
duration possibly depending on the leader’s vision.'* 

A day or two later, but not more than 2 days before the start of 
the dance proper, the ceremonial buffalo hunt took place. This was 
entirely apart from the one necessary for the collection of buffalo 
tongues for the feast, which seems to have been purely informal. 
Rather, its purpose was to secure the head and attached strip of skin 
from the back which adorned the center pole. 

A number of hunters went out, but only one was allowed to kill 
the desired animal. This privilege was, in fact, a great honor for a 
noted warrior, and memory of that distinction was long cherished. 
Thus in 1938, Quitan Quay remembered that Guy Robertson’s grand- 
father, Wazinamp, had twice killed the bull for the tribe. 

Nevertheless, the hunt was simple. No ill omen was implied if the 
hunter needed more than one shot to dispatch the beast. There was 
no prayer before skinning. The meat was left untouched. There 
was no ceremony on the men’s return comparable to that among the 
Kiowa or Arapaho (Hunt, 1934; Dorsey, 1903). In fact, the only 
ritual consisted of a prayer spoken by the principal hunter when the 
party sighted the buffalo. 

He prayed:'® 

nir i’kiza mbe’kahandé’ éna’niSundhengen 
I / right now / for that which killed-will be / to you-(I am)-praying/ 
mbe’kahando’' _ta’guwénérux én _ wi‘ 
for that which killed-will be / Sun Dancing // You / now’ 
marisu’ndhaindé pa:’ndai us su:fega 
these visible here-bless-will / down from above // That is / ended 


14 Lowie (1919, p. 393) reports 3 nights; St. Clair (Appendix 1) reports 4 nights. 
15 Lowie (1919, p. 397) reports that four hunters went out. 
16 According to QQ, GR interpreting. 


420 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 151 


In other words, ‘I, at this moment indeed, am praying to you for 
that which will be killed, for that which will be killed Sun Dancing. 
You will bless from above those who are here. That is ended.” 

The next important event was the cutting of a center pole. The 
full circumstances of this act are somewhat obscure. Lowie has given 
a detailed account: 


One company of men went to locate the trees to be cut down, leaning poles 
against them for identification. Some stayed by these trees and sat around play- 
ing the hand-game and pretending to be enemies of the Shoshone. The remainder 
went back to the distance of about half a mile. Two men were detailed to scout 
forthe enemy. They went off and came back hallooing and singing. The people 
said, “Those scouts have seen something.” They gathered piles of buffalo chips, 
making a big heap. All formed a circle round the chips, getting close together 
and leaving only a narrow gap for the entrance. The scouts entered the ring and 
moved all the way round, then the circle was closed. The chief shouted at them 
to announce quickly what they had discovered. ‘The enemy is at such and such 
a place,’ they would say. Then the people got horses and rushed over there. 
When they got near, the enemy tried to get away through the timber. Then there 
was shooting and hallooing as in a real fight. 'The Shoshone rushed in and struck 
each of the marked trees. Three brave warriors were to cut the center pole. Af- 
ter all the trees had been struck, another party came from behind to chop the 
trees down. When a tree fell, the Shoshone rushed in and broke off the limbs. 
Since there were no wagons in those days, the felled trees were dragged by a group 
of horsemen on either side of the logs, ropes being tied to these at one end, and the 
other end to the saddle or held in the hand. While the poles were dragged along 
there was no more of the sham battle, though nowadays it is held there. [Lowie, 
1919, pp. 397-398.] 


According to St. Clair, 


. . . [the Sun Dance leader] leads the people into the mountains and they have 
a sham battle, the trees representing the enemy, at which they shoot. Then the 
men pick out the straightest of the trees that were hit and the women chop them 
down, and the men load them up. The [party with the center pole] goes ahead 
and the other party drops back, and they have a sham-battle over the poles till 
they reach the camp. Then the sham-battle is turned into a parade around the 
camp. [St. Clair, Appendix 1.] 


According to my informants, a chief first prayed to the center pole, 


then killed it, counting coup. Young men broke off the branches. 
Young women went along, riding double with the youths. ” 


TC says: 


In the early days, boys of 6 to 15, as well as little girls (?), were taken along 
when the center pole was being procured. The children would wait for the tree 
to fall, then each would run up and try to break off a limb. They would keep the 
limbs they got—a large limb meant good fortune, a small one not much luck in the 
future. The tree was not further trimmed, though nowadays it is trimmed with 
an ax. 


1” There was now the sexual freedom occurring generally during Shoshone social events, but no such formal 
license as among the Arapaho and other tribes (Spier, 1921 b, p. 473). 


ANTHIGP. PAP. WIND RIVER SHOSHONE SUN DANCE—SHIMKIN 42] 


The other posts were just hauled or dragged by men on horseback. Smaller 
wood was gathered by the women and carried on their backs, or rarely on horse- 
back. 


When the party reached the Sun Dance field, they staged a sham 
battle in which two warriors hit the center pole. Soon after the center 
pole had been dragged to the field, the Sun Dance leader lashed a bun- 
dle of willows to the top fork of the tree. Around the tree itself 
brave warriors painted broad bands of black—one for each coup count- 
ed, but not more than four in all (QQ; also Lowie, 1919, p. 398). 
Rags adorned the ends of the forking branches. 

Now the center pole was lifted into place by means of pairs of joined 
tipi poles. The lifters made three feints, each preceded by successive- 
ly louder singing, accompanied by the rhythm of the tipi poles hitting 
together. The fourth try was successful. ¥ 

After this, the workers put up the side posts. ® The rafters were 
now put in place, the “‘back-bone”’ (JM) running due west to east be- 
ing laid down first, followed by the rafter running from north to south, 
then the one running from south to north; the others following in ir- 
regular fashion. Then the side posts were connected by cross rafters, 
against which the people leaned brush, leaving a wide opening on the 
east side. 

Inside the lodge, several additions remained. A man climbed up 
the center pole to place in position the buffalo bull’s head with attach- 
ed backstrip and tail which was handed to him. This head had been 
painted with yellow clay and decorated with eagle tail feathers; sage 
had been stuffed in the nose.” The head and backstrip were placed 
in the fork so that the head faced west, the backstrip covered the wil- . 
low bundle, and the tail hung down the east side of the fork. The Sun 
Dance doll was attached to the center pole possibly at this time; ”! 
ritualistic details are lacking. At this time also, an eagle was hung 
with its head to the east, from the very tip of the ‘‘backbone”’ nearest 
the center pole. (TC, JM). 

JM’s account of a Sun Dance altar, however, seems erroneous, and 
probably confused with the Arapaho structure. 


Formerly, a willow about 4 feet high, with many branches, decorated with eagle 
down, was placed in the Sun Dance lodge.” It stood underneath the “backbone”’ 


18 The fifth try, according to St. Clair (Appendix 1). 

1 According to my informants, the number of posts was invariably 12, and the lodge illustrated in Lowie 
(1919, p. 396) which dates to 1911 or 1912 also has 12 posts. This pattern, however, does not appear to be old, 
since Clark (1885, p. 363) mentions 10 outer posts. 

20 St. Clair (Appendix 1). MT and PS insisted that the buffalo head was painted yellow rather than 
white, as stated by St. Clair. 

21 Among the Ute, however, the Sun Dance doll is affixed on the afternoon of the second day (Opler, 1941, 
p. 563). 

22 The existence of an altar screen is also suggested by its presence among the Ute (Opler, 1941, p. 563), but 
I could get no other confirmation for JM’s statement. 


422 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Buy 151 


10 feet west of the center pole. Just south of this, on a tripod, was a pipe covered 
with buffalo robe, with feathers lying on top. 

This pipe had the following history. It had been sent by the Great Father, 
inherited by Ohamagwaya, later buried with him. It was called dotwitimo [a 
compound I could not analyze; “‘pipe’”’ is do]. It wasa long straight pipe, painted 
with different animals—eagle, otter, etc. Normally, it stayed on a tripod in back 
of his tent, in a special fringed case. If an enemy were to go under this tripod and 
pray to the pipe, we couldn’t kill him. 

Only Ohamagwaya might take this pipe out of its case, which he did without 
ceremony, but only for the Sun Dance. His wife, who had passed the menopause, 
would carry the pipe in traveling.” 

This pipe was prayed to for a long life, never smoked. It was also revered by 
the Fort Hall people. The Arapaho still have one like ours was. 

MT gave a vague confirmation of this account: he had heard that 
at one time there was an old man who had a tribal pipe for the Sho- 
shone. He gave it away (?). 

As this day neared its end, the prospective dancers prepared them- 
selves. Their number was few—5 the time of the very first dance 
(JM), maybe up to 12 (MT) or, rarely, 20 (QQ)—for people were 
afraid of the hardships involved. Although they never tortured 
themselves by putting skewers through their flesh and dragging skulls 
from the thongs attached to the skewers, they still had to fast, thirst, 
and dance for 4 days (DW, MT). One informant (DW) claimed that 
in those days the young men would participate in a Sun Dance only 
once in their lives, though nowadays some do it nearly every summer, 
but actually it appears that repeated participation is an old trait. 
Women did not dance. 

Those who wished to dance, bathed or sweated now (TC). They 
gathered after that in the Sun Dance leader’s tipi, where they painted 
each other with white clay from the waist up.** This was done with- 
out ritual, although some might first purify themselves with cedar 
(wa:pi, Juniperus californica) (DW, TC). Then they hung unadorn- 
ed, single-holed whistles of eagle humerus (no other bone may be used) 
from their necks, and tied an eagle down feather (p7’ayip) to each little 
finger; some held a prayer-horn. They were naked except for 
breechclouts and aprons of antelope skin. Their hair was not spe- 
cially dressed (TC), but around the head and waist they often put “‘wa- 
ter sage” (pa: ’woho’, Gnaphalium), which contributed its aromatic 
smell but no supernatural power (DW). 

Sometimes the people would lay those seriously ill on the dancing 
ground inside the lodge so that they might get well in that holy place 


(QQ). 


23 Blood, especially menstrual blood, is extremely polluting and very dangerous in contact with any bearer 
of supernatural] power, according to Shoshone theory. - 

2% They also painted white their hair and the buffalo robes which they wore, according to St Clair. 

35 Hebard (1930, figure opp. p. 286) shows such a horn; this trait still persists among the Ute (Opler, 1941, 
p. 564). 


NO uty,’ «WIND RIVER SHOSHONE SUN DANCE—SHIMKIN 423 


When dusk had come, the singers took their places around a large 
drum on the southeast corner of the lodge. One of them had a buffalo 
scrotum rattle. Women helped in the singing, although not in the 
drumming. Rather, they waved fronds of sagebrush rythmically up 
and down. 

Soon the dancers were ready. In single file, blowing their whistles, 
they shuffled from the leader’s tipi to the west end of the outside of 
the lodge. Then they circled it clockwise either two (QQ) or four 
(JM) times before entering. Once inside, each took whatever place 
in the western half of the lodge he might desire, except for the position 
directly under the ‘“‘backbone,”’ which was always occupied by the 
leader. At this moment the Sun Dance leader stepped up to the 
center pole for prayer. This was directed toward Our Father, and 
besought long life, safety in battle, the avoidance of illness.” The 
prayer over, the singers began their song, while the dancers jogged 
up and down in place to the beat of the drum and the blasts of their 
whistles, gazing constantly at the Sun Dance doll or the buffalo head.” 

Once or twice a day, they would cease dancing in place, and would 
dance up to the center pole. JM says that if it was the Sun Dance 
leader who did so, his wife would come up on the dance floor, bare- 
footed, with a leafy branch in her hand, and sweep away his tracks. 
But MT says that the dusting of the floor was done by an old man 
who came every morning furnished with an eagle feather for this 
purpose. 

Furthermore, in MT’s younger days, an old man would pick up a 
feather dropped by a dancer, tell why he had picked it up, and how 
he had once counted coup in a similar manner. Then the old man’s 
relatives would present a visitor with something valuable—a stick 
representing a horse, or they might actually lead a horse in to the 
center pole (TC, MT). 

Of this, JM says that if anyone lost a feather or the like, the war 
chief would come up and pick it up. He would tell how he had struck 
coup. For every coup that was counted, the drum would be hit 
once.% And for every coup counted, he would have to give away a 
different valuable, a blanket, or a stick representing a horse. 

An old woman would then dance forward with a kind of trotting 


28 It seems probable that the concept of a High Deity among the Shoshone was originally Christian, since 
they had earlier contacts with Christianity via the Comanche. Furthermore, Christian proselyting direct- 
ly among the Shoshone dates back at least to 1834 (cf. Irving, 1848, p. 266, and De Smet, 1906, p. 138) the 
latter dealing with De Smet’s teachings in 1841. Yet the wide distribution of the concept of a High God 
among primitive peoples calls for caution in such a derivation (Lowie, 1924, pp. 115-133). 

47 St. Clair mentions a blanket-shaking ritual immediately prior to the beginning of the dance proper, but 
this cannot be confirmed. Blanket shaking is an integral element of the Ghost Dance, whence it may 
occasionally be transferred to the Sun Dance. 

28 Also a common Crow custom (Dr. R. H. Lowie, personal communication). 


909871—52——-28 


424 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLn. 151 


step, singing happily a special war song: ke: de de (meaningless). 
Then she would pick up the gift and say, ‘‘aha (thanks!)* Iam glad 
you have given this to me.” If two old women started out at once, 
one would have to go back, but in case several articles were being 
given away, then they would dance up together. 

This ceremony was also performed in the piabangonékar', or Big 
Horse Dance.” 

Formerly, each dancer had a regular sponsor, an old man who was 
given no special name, and who was nominated informally. He 
would urge on the young man, “Keep on dancing. Everybody’s 
watching you; the women are watching you. If you drop, you might 
get a dream and Medicine.’”? The old man blessed the young one at 
the end, but received no gift in exchange (MT, JM, DW, TC). 

At times, one or two old women used to shuffle along, dancing with 
the help of their canes, singing a war song, urging the young fellows 
to be brave, not to give up. The song ended when the old women 
reached the limits of the secular part of the lodge. 

As the night grew dark, a fire was started just east of the center pole 
by some noted warrior, who recited his war experiences while doing so. 
As it grew later, the dancers gradually quit, one by one, and rested, 
wrapped up in blankets furnished by their relatives. Only the plod- 
ding of some stout soul and the croaking of the tired singers kept active 
the course of the dance. 

With the first rays of light, the dancers began to awake. More and 
more joined in until the whole ceremony was once more in full swing. 
Just before dawn, all lined up in a column of fours or fives, facing the 
east. The first tiny rim of the sun above the horizon was greeted by 
the stretching of arms toward it and long blasts on the whistles.” 
After that, the dancers sat around the fire and sang four sacred songs 
in low voices, blowing their whistles at the end of each song. Everyone 
else was silent at this time. 

Following this ritual, the spectators and singers left the lodge for 
breakfast, while the dancers attended to their physiological wants, 
rested, and slept. Their fasting and thirsting continued unbroken. 

In an hour, the dancers removed their old paint with the help of some 
damp skin, and repainted themselves, this time in any way they 


* Also the Crow ceremonial thanks. These two tribes share many phrases of etiquette, for example, 
“Where are you going?” (Shoshone: hagan mi’a’¥) as a formal greeting even though the person addressed 
may be sitting still (Dr. R. H. Lowie, personal communication). 

30 Lowie (1915 b, pp. 815-816) gives a brief description of the Big Horse- Dance. 

$1 The ritual of chest patting, called naB a8 ukwi by Hoebel (1935, p. 572) and found in the Hekandika Sho- 
shone sunrise ceremony, is specifically denied by TW. Nor did I see it, although St. Clair mentions it. 
Probably this ritual is a feature occasionally borrowed from the narayar, or Ghost Dance, of which it is an 
integral part. . 


AxtHRoP. PAP. WIND RIVER SHOSHONE SUN DANCE—SHIMKIN 425 


wished, usually following the directions of their visionary guardians.” 
Soon after, the dance was resumed, events repeating themselves identi- 
cally up to the resumption of dancing on the second morning. 

At that time the parents, wives, and other relatives of the dancers 
busied themselves in planting saplings in the ground within the sacred 
dancing ground (which they could enter if they removed their mocca- 
sins) (TC) parallel to the outer wall, then hanging skins from these to 
form little sheds, which were lined with armfuls of cooling grasses, sage, 
and fragrant peppermint through which a little water had been sprin- 
kled. These skins were often painted with records of visions of war 
experiences, much like the back drop of elk or antelope hide inside a 
man’s own tipi. War equipment was also hung up now. The dancers 
purified their bodies with cedar smoke (MT). 

Some of the symbolism involved here is given by Hebard, after DW. 

Each dancer has a certain place in the dance hall which he must keep throughout 
the duration of the dance when he enters it. Two small poles or young saplings 
may be peeled off or not, whichever the dancer may wish. If the dancer is a medi- 
cine man or has been wounded in battle sometime, he should show this on the 
poles or saplings by painting them red, which signified his blood was lost in battle. 
[Hebard, 1930, p. 293.] 

The third day was the most important one ritually. It was believed 
that one’s fate in battle could be divined at this time (TC). Thus, 
if a man fainted, the Sun Dance chief would ask him, when he had re- 
covered, whether he had had a vision. He might say: “I saw a fight. 
The Great Spirit told me that five or six men got killed; two or three 
of us. Our horses were stolen.”’ This would come true (JM). 

MT saw a man faint in the Dance. The sponsor came to the dancer 
and put his mouth to the latter’s palms, throat, and soles of both feet. 
(Presumably to suck out the excess of supernatural power which had 
knocked out the dancer.) The sponsor took his buffalo robe and cov- 
ered him carefully, with the head of the robe toward the dancer’s head. 
(MT has never seen or heard of anyone dying in the Sun Dance; rather 
they would be cured.) 

On the third day, spectators would also be prayed for, or have their 
illness brushed away by an eagle wing in the hands of the Sun Dance 
leader. He, or another, might also transfer Power to someone else 
during the day. The technique was not described, but probably corre- 
sponded to the one ordinarily used by the Shoshone, with the donor 

coughing up a supernatural object and blowing it through his hand 
into the recipient. 

A man might also steal the supernatural Power of another, as 
Pohguritsie Taylor is reputed to have stolen Pivo Brown’s. Then he 


32 Lowie (1919, pp. 403-404) describes some designs of this sort, 


496 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL 151 


would exhibit his acquisition by knocking someone over with a 
feather during the Sun Dance (PP).* 

Other shamanizing also took place. An exhausted dancer might 
hug the center pole, magically sucking water from it through his 
whistle (Lowie, 1919, pp. 395, 402). A man might send a feather in 
the air to the center pole (JM). (The supernatural balancing of a 
feather was used normally in shamanizing to predict the course of 
a patient’s disease. If the feather insisted upon falling down, the 
prognosis would be very unfavorable (MT).) Further tricks were 
played. Thus Ohamagwaya, during his second Sun Dance, blew a 
whistle like an eagle. An eagle came down to the lodge, then flew 
up into the skies again. Following this, he struck his chest. Eagle 
claws came out of his mouth, then went in again. He vomited a 
bullfrog, then swallowed him again. He alone was able to exhibit 
animals like that (JM). 

The dance ended in the afternoon of the fourth day; thus the 
dancers actually suffered but for 3 nights and 2% days. The old man 
sponsoring the Sun Dance leader gave him his blessing at this time. 
The other sponsors followed suit with their protégés. Old men then 
brought water in which clay had been placed. Having done this, 
the old men recited their brave deeds.** Then the Sun Dance leader 
blessed the water, and only the dancers drank it. Some vomited. 

The dance was now over, except for the feast on the buffalo tongues 
which had previously been collected. According to Lowie (1919, 
p. 397), before the dance ‘They began to hunt buffalo and get all the 
tongues they could. The tongues were coupled so that each member 
of a pair could hang over one side of a stick and several men would 
carry one end of a stick thus laden with tongues all around the camp 
till they got back to the pledger and piled up the tongues there.” 
These tongues were, in the first Sun Dance MT remembers, boiled 
by two middle-aged women who painted their hands with charcoal, 
but stirred the tongues with an ordinary stick, not a scalp stick.® 
The Sun Dance chief asked for a blessing for the tongues piled in 
the hall by the fire. This was on the third day. 

Quitan Quay insisted, however, that old women who had been in a 
war, up to four in number, cooked the meat just after the dance. 
They painted their hands and faces black, and used a broken stick to 


33 Compare the ceremonial killing in the Kiowa Sun Dance (Scott, 1911, pp. 366-367). Such ritual sham- 
anistic competitions are widespread, being found, for example, among the Kwakiutl and the Maidu. (See 
Drucker, 1940, p. 215 ff; Loeb, 1933, p. 160 ff.) 

34 Lowie (1919, pp. 399-400), states that the dancers gave presents to the old men blessing them, but later 
adds that this was a feature introduced by Rev. John Roberts, according to one informant. I also believe 
that this feature is recent; most likely, the old men counting coups now gave away property, as they did at 
other times in the ceremony. Payment toa sponsor would probably have taken place only when a transfer 
of supernatural power or a curing rite had taken place during the Sun Dance. 

35 Lowie (1919, pp. 398-399,) states that renowned old men also helped to stir the boiling tongues. 


No di], - WIND RIVER SHOSHONE SUN DANCE—SHIMKIN 427 


stir the boiling tongues.** PS said that the feast was on the last 
day, and that all ate outside. 

When the tongues were ready, a large group of boys, called Magpies 
(kwidaBoi) and painted with black and white in imitation of these 
birds, descended upon the old women and attempted to steal the 
tongues. The details of this ceremony are obscure, for informants’ 
accounts differ. 

For example, MT was a Magpie once. The other boys and he 
were led by three old men, who had gone through battles, and wanted 
the boys to follow in their path. Behind the youngsters were other 
men with switches. ‘There were no prayers. 

The spectators were now fed and told to hurry. ‘“The Magpies are 
coming!’ Then the Magpies were notified and came ahead. Since 
the people had not finished eating, the Magpies were driven back by 
guards also armed with switches. But the Magpies rushed in, tramp- 
ling their own smaller and less aggressive members, and tried to grab 
all the tongues they could. Having done that, they ran back to the 
place from which they had started and piled up the tongues in front 
of the old men, who asked them to take a bath, and then fed them. 

This ceremony was a symbol asking for a blessing that the boys be 
like Magpies, who are known to be fearless, going where other birds 
dare not go (MT). 

Polly Shoyo says of this rite that the best parts were eaten by the 
adults, while the Magpies rushed for the less desirable tips of the 
tongues, which were piled to one side for them. (They were led by two 
old men, who counted coup on the pot, telling the people how they 
had hit the enemy.) ‘“That’s the reason the boys are with us: so they 
may do likewise.’”? TC adds that the future luck of each Magpie was 
divined by his success in grabbing tongues. 

CW described the Magpies as having been painted white on the 
forehead and shoulders. The two old men who led had drums, and 
sang. Two others with switches brought up the rear. These four 
men were the same from year to year. This suggestion of semiper- 
manency is strengthened by JM’s assertion that the Magpies were 
camp robbers, who stole food at public dances generally, and were 
almost equivalent to the two warrior societies. 

Finally, QQ claimed that no one had ceremonial charge of the 
Magpies—they just tried to steal and eat food. 

According to Lowie: 


The tongues were issued to all the spectators, but primarily to the musicians. 
The drummers told the dancers they were going to eat, then the dancers would 


36 The stick, like all Shoshone food stirrers, could not be sharp-pointed, lest it pierce the meat, an extremely 
bad omen for any warrior eating this meat. Black is the color denoting victory in combat. 


498 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Buuy. 151 


rest, while the drummers sang and themselves danced in their places before par- 
taking of the food. [Lowie, 1919, p. 399.] 

After all the eating was over, and the people had left, the dancers 
went to the river, drank, washed, went home, and ate there. 

Meanwhile, sickly people brought in their old clothes and tied them 
to the center pole, so that they could be relieved as the dancers had 
been. These clothes were left untouched until they rotted away. 
Next morning all moved away from the site (Lowie, 1919, p. 399). 


SOCIAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS 


What evidence is available on the interrelations of the early Wind 
River Shoshone Sun Dance with other social and psychological factors? 
Can the introduction of the Sun Dance be ascribed to a peculiarly for- 
tuitous time or an outstanding personality, or both? Did the dom- 
inant attitudes of the Shoshone, their pattern of culture (to use Bene- 
dict’s term), promote, inhibit, or otherwise affect the acceptance and 
development of the Sun Dance? What tensions did the ceremony 
help to relieve? How close was the integration of the ceremony with 
the social structure and the system of values of the tribe? What 
factors were responsible for the adaptability of the Sun Dance to later 
profound changes, when many other cultural traits vanished? Let 
us examine these problems one by one. 

Both a cultural crisis and a powerful personality may have aided 
the introduction of the Sun Dance. The period from approximately 
1781 to 1820 was an extremely difficult one for the Shoshone (Shimkin, 
1941). Prior to this period, their early acquisition of the horse had 
given them a temporary domination of much of the northern Plains. 
Beginning in 1781, however, smallpox, the mounting of other tribes, 
and especially the acquisition of guns by their enemies, placed the 
Shoshone at a military disadvantage. The Shoshone were forced 
from the Plains, and pursued by the Blackfoot even into central Idaho. 
A new ceremony designed to promote military success might well have 
received an especial welcome under such circumstances. Neverthe- 
less, though the correlation is possible, it is unproven. 

On the other hand, the prestige of the introducer, Yellow Hand or 
Ohamagwaya, is unquestionable. Traditionally, he far overshadows 
any other Shoshone, including Washakie. His abilities as a shaman 
are the subject of countless anecdotes. His dignity and his kindness 
to young men whom he pitied because of their lack of supernatural 
power are also renowned. Finally, if the Ama-qui-em mentioned by 
Ross is really he, then direct historical evidence confirms his impor- 
tance and his outstanding personality (Ross, 1855). 

The heterogeneity of the Wind River Shoshone unquestionably led 
to a wide variety of psychological outlooks. The differences between 


No di). ” «WIND RIVER SHOSHONE SUN DANCE—SHIMKIN 429 


the old Plains families who formed Washakie’s original band and the 
ex-rabbit-hunters who flocked in to share in the gains of the treaty of 
1863 were enormous. Yet it is clear from informants’ biographies, 
philosophical statements, and comments on others, that four dominant 
attitudes—egalitarianism, individualism, skepticism, and restraint— 
can be ascribed to the Wind River Shoshone. 

The sentiment of egalitarianism was pervasive throughout Shoshone 
thought and culture. While individual qualities, particularly those of 
outstanding shamans, were admired, frank admission of leadership or 
control was begrudged. For example, jealousy of Washakie was 
marked, and many informants ascribed his rise solely to White aid, 
although, in fact, he was becoming prominent as early as 1843 (Russel, 
1921, pp. 114-115). Chieftainship existed, but the chief’s authority 
depended on his personality and his hold over his personal followers. 
The leaders of the two military societies and the shamans directing the 
Sun Dance and Father Dance were also persons with prestige, but here 
the list ended. Heredity, wealth, association, and age were factors in 
leadership in fact, but were stubbornly denied in Shoshone theory.*” 

Even stronger was the feeling of individualism. Beyond a man’s 
immediate family, blood-brotherhood and the two military societies 
(these largely in Washakie’s band) were the sole permanently organized 
groupings. Larger kin groupings lacked sentimental ties, special as- 
sociations of age mates or of shamans were absent, and band affiliation 
was a matter of free and shifting choice. Legal control over individual 
actions extended only to the rules of the buffalo hunt; otherwise, re- 
prisal through force or sorcery was the deterrent to wrongdoing. Re- 
ligious life was basically an individual matter. The Sun Dance, the 
Father Dance, and other ceremonies, as well as the transfer of super- 
natural power, provided social links. But more fundamental were the 
solitary vision quest and, above all, the medicine dream life that could 
scarcely be separated from reality. The quintessence of Shoshone in- 
dividuality was reached in the individual tabus, which crystallized and 
sanctified idiosyncracy with supernatural power. 

Closely related to extreme individualism was critical skepticism of 
the pretensions or dogmatic assertions of others. Guy Robertson’s 
rejection of an abstract God and Charley Nipwater’s disbelief in the 
hereafter are modern illustrations of this attitude.*® This skepticism 
did not, of course, mean the absence of religious or philosophical formu- 
lations or abstractions: most people held to beliefs in a Heavenly 
Father, in vistas opening out at death, in pervasive Supernatural 
Power—but acceptance of these beliefs and their reconciliation with 


37 Compare Comanche attitudes, ef. Hoebel (1940, pp. 6, 11-12). 
38 Shimkin (1942); also compare Shimkin (1947 ¢). 


430 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Buy 151 


other, contradictory, beliefs were matters of individual choice guided 
by personal experience. 

Another characteristic Wind River Shoshone attitude was restraint, 
which contrasted sharply with the emotional extremes found, say, 
among the neighboring Crow or the Dakota. (Lowie, 1935, esp. pp. 
327-334; Mekeel, 1936, pp. 11-12; Marriott, 1945, pp. 101-111.) Sex- 
ual behavior was quite free, and marriage often unstable, but oscillation 
between organized wife stealing on one extreme and public demonstra- 
tions of chastity on the other did not exist. Renowned men were ex- 
pected to recite their deeds, then give away a horse or other valuable 
on various occasions. But for them to strip themselves of everything 
they owned in celebrating their renown, would have been ridiculous, 
not praiseworthy, in Shoshone eyes. Among the Shoshone, as among 
other Plains tribes, men would voluntarily doom themselves to death 
through reckless folly against the enemy. Men who had lost a brother 
to the foe might dedicate themselves in this manner. But doctrines 
of the praiseworthiness of early death in battle, involuntary selection 
of ‘Those Doomed to Die,’’ and similar elaborations did not exist. 
Foppery also was to be found among the Shoshone, but the institution- 
alized narcissism of the ‘‘Favorite Child” was not. Finally, the Wind 
River Shoshone had the vision quest, yet it involved only sleeping by 
pictographs or near a shaman’s grave for a few nights. Piteous self- 
mutilation and fasting almost to the point of death were equally 
foreign to their practice. 

What was the effect of these attitudes upon the development of the 
Sun Dance? Direct proof is not available, but it seems most probable 
that these attitudes greatly inhibited the acceptance of many traits 
from the Sun Dances of neighboring tribes. Shoshone egalitarianism 
goes far in explaining the absence of formal heredity in Sun Dance 
leadership or of payment for the privilege of giving the ceremony, and 
the nonparticipation of the military societies in the rite. Individual- 
ism and skepticism help comprehension of the absence of a shamanistic 
fraternity despite the repeated participation of a few and also of the 
absence of complex esoteric doctrines. The Sun Dance may well have 
reflected Shoshone restraint not only in its lack of torture but also in 
its absence of a single, all-pervading purpose and of an intense emo- 
tional peak in the ritual. 

The Sun Dance had only a loose formal connection with the social 
structure of the Wind River Shoshone. The bands, the band chief, 
and the military societies lacked prescribed functions. Kin had no 
obligatory duties toward each other in the ceremony. On the other 
hand, all age groupings, children, adults, and the aged, were repre- 
sented, while shamans dominated the rite. 


No di). Y) 6 WIND RIVER SHOSHONE SUN DANCE—SHIMKIN 431 


Informally, ties with the social structure were generally closer, al- 
though much depended upon personal attributes and attachments. 
Thus, while Andrew Bresil was apparently a person of no consequence 
except for his position in the Sun Dance, his father Pa:si was an ex- 
tremely important shaman and one of Washakie’s subchiefs, although 
not a leader in either of the military societies. Yellow Hand, of course, 
combined religious and secular dominance since he was one of the two 
principal chiefs of his day. Similarly, the strength of various personal 
ties could be proclaimed discreetly within the context of the Sun 
Dance. Sweethearts might ride double on a horse from the tree-felling 
ceremony. A man’s wife or an old male friend or relative might per- 
form tasks of aid to a dancer, such as building his shed, or sweeping 
the dance ground with a feather for him. An old man might transfer 
supernatural power to his younger intimate. Father and son, brothers 
or blood-brothers, often danced together. 

The most important social value brought out in the Sun Dance was 
individual prestige, either as a warrior or as a shaman. Prominent 
warriors performed essential rites and recited their deeds at countless 
points of the ceremony: when the hole for the center post was dug, in 
killing the buffalo, painting the center pole, lighting the warrior’s fire, 
picking up dropped articles from the dance floor, and leading the 
Magpies. Individual ability and prestige as a shaman were estab- 
lished by the performances of rival supernatural feats, curing, and the 
transfer of Power. 

War anxieties, however, demonstrated their strength beyond the 
rubric of individual prestige. The sham battles, the hanging of war 
equipment in the lodge, war divination, tongue cooking by black- 
painted old women who had been in battle, and the Magpie ceremony 
showed the ubiquitous character of this preoccupation with war. 

Concern for health was also prominent. Threatened illness forced 
the leader to give the Dance. The sick were often laid in the lodge, 
and curing took place during the ceremony. 

The acquisition of supernatural power, good luck, and long life were 
also promoted by the Sun Dance. Beyond this, other values expressed 
in the rite are not so easy to establish. A great variety of them is 
suggested by the simple fact that this occasion, and a few weeks that 
followed, were the sole times that the entire Wind River Shoshone 
people habitually came together. Thus a whole set of cohesive influ- 
ences would now begin operating: gossip, and the identification of 
wrongdoers, flirtations and marriages, gambling (most of that later, 
at the rendezvous with the trappers), racing, initiation into the military 
societies, etc. There were the relaxations of joyous company, sufficient 
food, and, generally, safety from the enemy, which contrasted strongly 
with the painful days of winter. Visiting Doyahin enlarged the 


432 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLy. 151 


gathering, and often proved a source of profit to Shoshone business- 
men who bought their furs for later resale to white traders. 

How important were the values revealed in the Sun Dance in the 
totality of Wind River Shoshone culture? What other mechanisms 
were available to accentuate these values? What major values and 
anxieties were unrepresented in the rite? 

The overwhelming importance of individual prestige has been 
stressed in the discussion on dominant Shoshone attitudes. In addi- 
tion to the Sun Dance, many other social patterns advertised personal 
achievement. The dances of the military societies, young men’s songs, 
distinctions of face and body paint, and of dress; tipi decorations and 
medicine-bundle stands outside tipis—these marked the prominent 
warrior. Individual curing and leadership in the Father Dance or 
Ghost Dance marked the shaman. Yet none of these mechanisms had 
the effectiveness of the Sun Dance as a vehicle for prestige. 

Military prowess was at all times vital. All the witnesses from 
Lewis and Clark to E. N. Wilson have stressed the extreme pres- 
sure often exerted upon the Wind River Shoshone by their enemies 
(Thwaites, 1905, vol. 2, p. 434; Wilson, 1926, p. 92 ff.). Yet only 
one of many old warriors’ accounts claims the exhibition of great 
courage, and that, on occasion only. Most of my informants admit- 
ted frank fright in combat, and distaste for war. Consequently, 
devices for raising and maintaining the morale of the tribe were highly 
necessary for its very existence. 

In general, war and prestige shared many of the same devices. The 
two military societies gave dances, and adorned themselves in striking 
special ways. Even a man’s tipi—inside and out—would give visible 
testimony of his prowess in performing standardized acts of bravery or 
“coups.”’ The women honored a successful warrior by dancing with 
the scalps he had taken. And a youth—unless he were a handsome 
fop—needed deeds of war to gain himself a wife. Little boys played 
at war by slinging gobs of mud from the ends of sticks at each other. 

The anxiety about the outcome of battle was often acute. As 
Polly Shoyo, or Popo"i, says, ‘““There was more respect and affection 
in the old days than now, for we never knew when would be the last 
time we would see each other—what with enemies, hunger, and other 
dangers.’”’ And her accounts bring out the pathos and emotional in- 
tensity often observable in those days. 

Once, we fought with the enemy, and the enemy killed a young Shoshone, the 
grandson of anold woman. Then we followed them, and met them, killing one of 
their number. This man’s body was taken back home to camp, as the enemy fled. 

Because the old woman was still crying, the warriors gave the body to her. Still 
mad with grief, she took a knife, slashed the body, butchered it like a buffalo. 


She took the slabs of meat, and dried them on a frame. But the meat was left 
untouched. 


No diy)’ WIND RIVER SHOSHONE SUN DANCE—SHIMKIN 433 


When we moved camp, it remained behind. It may still be there, for all I 
know. 


The means of lessening tension were many, but unorganized save in 
the Sun Dance. Relatives—such as the father of the warrior in the 
tale of “The Weakling and the Female Bear’’—would attempt to dis- 
suade their loved ones from foolish war raids. Men would try to gain 
the Power of such animals as Turtle, which would grant invulnerabil- 
ity. Or they would brave the deadly do’yaratuwara plant, over- 
coming it to gain power in battle and in sorcery.“ While warriors 
would be on the warpath, the old men at home would help them 
supernaturally by singing war songs to the beat of a drum. 

IlIness was a drive of great importance in the lives of the Wind River 
Shoshone. Even in ordinary times, some women lost 9 out of 10 
children born to them, while men describe the deaths of 4 and 5 wives. 
In addition, severe epidemics, principally of smallpox, ravaged them 
at times, as, for example, in 1781 and 1837 (Tyrrell, 1916, pp. 335-337, 
344, footnote 1; Farnham, 1906, p. 266, footnote). 

The Sun Dance was in those days a comparatively minor curing 
device. Much more constantly used were the services of shamans 
and their assistants. And during severe epidemics the Shoshone 
held the a’ p:énékar, or ‘Father Dance’’—a close relative of the Ghost 
Dance of later days."! 

Exhibitions of shamanistic power took place on irregular informal 
occasions outside of the Sun Dance. They were very rarely competi- 
tive. The settling of grudges was usually recognized ex post facto. 

The extent of social cohesion among the Shoshone differed widely. 
Some families stayed by themselves, fishing, hunting, and berrying in 
isolated spots. Others were much more sociable, staying regularly in 
one of four large bands (Shimkin, 1938 and 1947 b). But members 


39 For example, see Olden (1923,p. 92 ff.). 

40 The plant is unidentified, but is a mountain species; doya (mountain)—datu (?)—bada (or wada, seed 
plant); it has red, yellow and blue flowers; the leaves turn brown; the root is used. The Gosiute to:-ya-da- 
ti-bu-da is ““? Primula parryi Gray. Primrose? Polygenwm viviparum L. Gnaphaliwm sprengeli Hook and 
Am. Cudweed.” (See Chamberlin, 1911, p. 400.) 

The beliefs concerning this plant resemble those about Peyote to a surprising degree. Prominent features 
are its location by an exceptionally high will-o’-the-wisp, prayer to it, and counting coup on it; visions in 
which it comes as a person; use to kill animals by placing it in their tracks; use to kill persons by mixing their 
hair with it, then burying this mixture. 

41 The Father Dance and the Ghost or Round Dance (narayar, literally shuffling) are basically the same 
ceremony. Itisinitiated by ashaman who possesses mystical songs ofa fixed melodic structure, which refer 
to his dream experiences. A cedar is placed upright in an open plot of ground, and a brush enclosure is 
built around it. The shaman stands by the center pole, and the dancers form a circle in which men and 
women alternate. They clasp hands and shuffle sideways. At the end of each dance, they shake their 
blankets to shake away illness. 

This ceremony may be undertaken primarily as a social dance or as a religious one. The special features 
and the specific purposes of the religious dance vary greatly according to the supernatural power and instruc- 
tions of the shaman. Some had power over food, others over smallpox, etc. In the religious form of the 
dance, Our Father was addressed in prayer by the shaman, whence the name. 

The Ghost Dance of 1890 among the Wind River Shoshone was thus a minor variant of this well-estab- 
lished pattern. The concept of the return of the dead was the sole special feature. (See also Lowie, 1915 b.) 


434 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLL. 151 


even of these groups might leave on excursions lasting 2 years or more, 
ending hundreds of miles away. In the summer time, after 1825, how- 
ever, the Shoshone would gather to meet the trappers and several other 
Indian tribes. Outside of this and the Sun Dance, there were no 
regular unifying mechanisms except the personalities of chiefs, the 
military societies, the summer buffalo hunt, and the danger of annihi- 
lation in battle. 

Games of hand, hoop-and-pole, races, shinny, and many other diver- 
sions existed among the Shoshone, but none of these, except occasion- 
ally the hand games, competed with the Sun Dance in terms of size, 
activity, and color as public attractions. The social dances served to 
enhance the prestige of warriors, or to afford pleasure, or to shake away 
illness. Most served as a prelude to sexual intercourse, quite openly 
in the case of the na’ 30mayag.” 

This finally brings up the values in the kinship structure implied in 
the Sun Dance. Interestingly enough, almost no formal ceremonial 
relations between kindred comparable to those among other Plains 
tribes existed among the Wind River Shoshone. At most, a wife, 
unless menstruating, would carry her husband’s medicine bundle in 
travel. Or a father would bequeath supernatural power to his son. 
Consequently, the few emphases on kinship ties existing in the Sun 
Dance were relatively important. 

Thus the Sun Dance had significant social and psychological 
functions. Yet it was far from being a fully effective integrating 
device. Concern about food and about general welfare were not 
brought out as they were in the Father Dance, a ceremony which had 
much more emotional appeal to many of my informants (especially 
PP). Neither grief nor worry about the hereafter were relieved by 
the Sun Dance. Even the values emphasized were not developed 
to the maximum degree. Certainly, the warlike features of the 
Wind River Shoshone ceremony were but pallid contrasts to the grim 
purposefulness of the Crow ceremony (Lowie, 1915 a). The few 
participants striving to gain supernatural power through mild hard- 
ships among the Shoshone were but half-hearted equivalents to the 
echelons of novices enduring torture among the Dakota (Walker, 
1917). 

If the Sun Dance was inhibited in its development of social and 
religious elaboration, if it expressed Wind River Shoshone values 
and social structure but incompletely, why was it able to withstand 
profound change with the advent of reservation days? Why did 
this instrument succeed in integrating the group far more closely 
after the shock of acculturation than in nomadic times? 

No categorical answers can be given, but one set of facts stands 


#2 Lowie, 1915 b. A more refined name is na’Zonékor. 


No diy,’ WIND RIVER SHOSHONE SUN DANCE—SHIMKIN 435 


out. In the crisis of 1890, tribes with well-integrated Sun Dances 
such as the Arapaho, Cheyenne, and Dakota seized upon an alien 
rite, the Ghost Dance of the much-despised Paiute, as the agency for 
crystallizing their anxieties. As Mooney writes, ‘“The Ghost Dance 
practically superseded all other dances among the Cheyenne and 
Arapaho. . . .”” (Mooney, 1896, p. 901). On the other hand, the 
Ute, who had other functionally well-adapted ceremonies (the Deer 
Hoof Rattle and Round Dances), slighted these to take up the Sun 
Dance at this very time (Opler, 1941, pp. 570-571). The Wind 
River Shoshone took up the Ghost Dance—long familiar to them— 
for a brief period, lost enthusiasm, and then concentrated their 
energies on the Sun Dance, Peyote cult, and Wolf Dance. In all 
cases, there appears to be a correlation between the prior, close 
functional integration of a ceremony and its psychological rejection 
at a time of overwhelming crisis. ‘Thus it appears probable that the 
very feebleness and lack of cohesion of the Wind River Shoshone 
Sun Dance were important influences in its survival and further 
adaptation after 1890. 


THE MODERN SUN DANCE 
THE LATER HISTORY OF THE SHOSHONE SUN DANCE 


By 1880, or thereabout, the Wind River Shoshone Sun Dance had 
begun a period of change which culminated in essentially the modern 
form of the dance by 1905. The principal modifications at this time 
consisted of a marked growth of Christian or pseudo-Christian 
ideology within the dance, the diminution of war-centered elements, 
the great development of connections with social (ultimately, curing 
and social) functions, and the increasing use of White goods—shawls, 
wagons, etc. Concurrently, however, the repressive efforts of the 
Indian Service led to disguise and subterfuge in regard to the entire 
institution. For example, the Indians, forbidden to hold religious 
ceremonies, dubbed this the “Sand-dance” or ‘“Half-dance,” and 
claimed that it had only a social or recreational value (Le Sieur, 1911). 

This state lasted until approximately 1920, when the relaxing of 
restraint allowed the shaman Morgan Moon—an enterprising man 
who had experimented with the Peyote cult at one time—to revive 
the dance openly. Since then, the dance has been maintained by 
the entire Shoshone community, and has been given annually. 

The modifications since 1920 have been minor and largely con- 
nected with the increasing influence of the tribal council upon the 
Sun Dance. In fact, the tribe has stubbornly rejected some in- 
novations. Thus, in 1920, Morgan Moon wanted to dance 4 days. 
The others insisted upon their habitual 3 days and 2 nights. Again, 
the same man claimed in 1936 that a visionary power had told him 


436 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLu. 151 


to have the center pole bare of the willow bundle and buffalo head, 
and to reorient the entrance to the lodge from the east to the west 
side (TC). So, although he was not allowed to change the entrance, 
he put on the Sun Dance with the pole bare. But public distrust of 
the efficacy of his performance was so great that the informal cere- 
monial committee meeting at the gambling games induced the medicine 
man Natopo White, despite the fact that he had had no vision, to 
give a second Sun Dance a few weeks later. They paid him $10 and 
gave groceries to his family in the meantime. As a result, he took 
Tom Compton as his assistant, and held a fairly successful dance, 
with 46 participants. 

The history of changes in particular elements of the dance is recon- 
structable to a good degree. Thus, it is probable that the old style of 
dancing-in-place and its accompanying ceremonial sweeping of the 
ground disappeared by 1880, as it is unknown to my younger inform- 
ants and both St. Clair in 1902 and Lowie in 1912 reported the new 
style of dancing to the center pole and back (Lowie, 1919, p. 395; St. 
Clair, appendix 1). Since the last disturbances in the Wyoming-Idaho 
area were in 1878-79, among the Nez Percé and Bannock, it seems 
probable that the abandonment of war divining, of placing military 
equipment in the Sun Dance lodge, and of prayers for success in war 
came shortly thereafter (Report of the Secretary of War, 1879, p. 90). 
In 1884, the Shoshone killed a considerable number of buffalo for the 
last time.“ Consequently, this dates the disappearance of the cere- 
monial buffalo hunt, the feast on tongues, and the Magpie ritual. 
The greatly increased concern over illness and communal unity in the 
Sun Dance probably goes back to the period of intense misery and 
dissension of the late 1890’s (Shimkin, 1942). 

The intensification of Christian influence, including the introduction 
of 12 outer posts identified as Christ’s Apostles, with Christ Himself 
being represented by the center pole and with the entire ceremony 
being derived from His fast, can be assigned to the period 1885-90. 
Clark’s description of 1885 mentions 10 outer posts, yet at the time of 
the diffusion of the dance to the Ute (ca. 1890) and to the Hekandika 
(ca. 1906) these concepts were obviously already firmly set among the 
Wind River Shoshone.“ Furthermore, the founding of both the Epis- 
copal and Catholic missions at Wind River took place in the 1880’s. 
Direct influence from the Episcopal mission is indicated by Lowie’s 
statement that the Reverend John Roberts introduced dancers’ pay- 
ments to their sponsors (Lowie, 1919, p. 400). 


43 Five hundred bison robes procured in 1884, 10 in 1885. (See Report of the Commissioner for Indian 
Affairs, 1885, p. 183, and 1886, p. 211.) 

44 Clark, 1885, p. 363; Hoebel, 1935; Opler, 1941. The last two are sources for all references to the Hekandika 
and Ute, respectively. 


A . PAP. 
No dij. ~4WIND RIVER SHOSHONE SUN DANCE—SHIMKIN 437 


According to my informants, the Sun Dance doll disappeared shortly 
after 1900 (GR, MT); this is confirmed by the presence of the doll 
among the Ute and its absence among the Hekandika. Dancing the 
narayar (“shuffling,”’ or Ghost Dance) dates to at least this period, 
although it has been an irregular accompaniment (GR). Ute and 
Hekandika data again provide confirmation, since it is absent among 
the former and present among the latter. 

A few changes may be ascribed to the period, roughly, of 1906-15. 
The elimination of clay from the water drunk at the end of the cere- 
mony, and of the ritual vomiting may be dated from the facts that 
these elements are present among the Hekandika but appeared to have 
disappeared from Wind River at the time of Lowie’s visit in 1912. 
The rise of the ceremonial number two—two leaders, two files of 
dancers circling the hall twice before entering, pairs dancing together— 
may be a loan from the Shoshone Peyote cult, in which the number 
two is also important (for example, one may eat two buttons rather 
than four).* The Peyote cult was introduced prior to 1900, but did 
not achieve a strong footing in the community until after 1915. This 
cult may also have had its effect on the Sun Dance by increasing 
emphasis upon prayer rather than the recitation of war deeds. Thus, 
since about 1915, the old man bringing in firewood has prayed rather 
than counted coup (TW, GR). 

The recent history of the Sun Dance is but part of a period of far- 
reaching changes among the Wind River Shoshone (Shimkin, 1942). 
After a collapse of the old nomadic life in the 1880’s, a small number of 
young men, Tassitsie, Bishop Wesaw, Wanabidi, and others, reworked 
the entire religious and social culture of these people, through nu- 
merous loans, inventions, and modifications. They revived the mili- 
tary societies and instituted new dances. They vigorously embraced 
the Episcopal church and the Peyote cult. They reworked the Sun 
Dance into a stable reintegration in the new life of the reservation. 
Unlike the extinct Father Dance, vision quest, medicine bundles, indi- 
vidual tabus, and menstrual hut, the Sun Dance had the vitality not 
only to survive modification but to gain increasing popular faith and 
support in recent times. 


THE MODERN SUN DANCE—GENERALIZED VERSION 


The inception of the modern annual Sun Dance is somewhat as 
follows: During the winter the Indians meet frequently to gamble at 
Stewart’s store. A vaguely hereditary group interested in ceremonies 
(the a:no or ‘“‘Horn-Packers’’) begins to formulate plans.*® Somewhat 


45 Cf. Shimkin’s element list in Stewart (1944, pp. 103-121). 
46 T could not get detailed information on the composition of this group, but it appears to correspond closely 
with the Wolf Dancers discussed in the interpretative section of The Modern Sun Dance. 


438 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bun 151 


by their consent, somewhat by private initiative, one of the men who 
has participated in the Sun Dance many times and may have led it 
once or twice before, then announces his intention to lead it the com- 
ing summer. He picks out a friend, also a regular participant, as 
assistant Sun Dance leader. 

A dream is the invariable sanction of the claim to leadership.” 
Thus, in 1938, TW saw, in his sleep, a really old man with gray hair, 
dressed in a buckskin suit, who told him: “You will put up the Sun 
Dance with Ben Perry. You will pray for the tribe and the sick ones 
init. You will pray for Leslie Isis. If you don’t mind me, you will 
sicken and die.’”?’ He came thus twice. PT’s dream in 1937 had an 
escape clause in it. A dead friend of his, whose Sun Dance whistle, 
feathers and eagle-wing fan Pohguritsie Taylor still possesses, came 
to him in the night, telling him to hold the dance. He stipulated, 
however, that if someone else gave the dance he would be released from 
his obligation! (JM.) Furthermore, even mere participation may be 
forced by adream. In 1936, Toorey Roberts had a dead man come to 
him thus, telling him that he would die or have deaths in his family if 
he did not join the Sun Dance that year. Bob became the Sun Dance 
chief’s partner then (TC). 

Yet, curiously, rivals for leadership insist that their opponents have 
no such dreams as they claim for themselves. One claimant stated: 
“Tom Compton had no dream—he gave the dance just for the money— 
just for the fun of it.””, Tom Compton denied the validity of another 
Sun Dance leader’s dream in similar fashion. 

Once his claim to lead the ceremony has been publicly recognized, 
the Sun Dance leader appoints the head of the Sun Dance committee, 
the latter naming in turn three or four assistants and two special po- 
lice. The group of men so formed, among whom are always several 
members of the tribal council, takes charge of the finances, public order, 
and other details of the dance. They haul logs for the lodge on Indian 
Service trucks, help in its construction, assign the soda-pop conces- 
sions and perform police duty. 

They raise money for the Dance in a number of ways. Committee 
members station themselves on the road to the Sun Dance, and take 
25 cents admission from each individual, White or Indian, in the auto- 
mobiles that come in, as well as “donations’’—varying from $1 to $5— 
from camera-carrying tourists. The number of the latter is usually 
not very great, despite announcement of the Dance over the radio. A 


47 Such dreams are equated to visions, and regarded as completely different from ordinary dreams. They 
are the results of long concentration on the subject and thus are absolutely clear, perfectly remembered, while 
dreams proper are generally confused, absurd, hazily retained (TC, TW, PT). This differentiation has 
some general interest (cf. Kroeber, 1940, p. 207). 


No ui)’ WIND RIVER SHOSHONE SUN DANCE—SHIMKIN 439 


last important source of money are the two soda-pop stands which are 
built north and south of the entrance to the Sun Dance hall. These 
do a roaring business. The total proceeds, which sometimes amount 
to $300 according to a highly optimistic statement, are used largely to 
defray the costs of the feast at the end of the dance. In addition, the 
committeemen pay themselves $2 a day, the policemen, $2.50. Where 
the rest of the sum—if any—goes, I do not know. 

A week or more before the start of the dance in July, the prospective 
Sun Dance leader moves his tent out on the ‘Sun Dance field,” a 
large open plain about 2 miles southwest of Fort Washakie. Its long- 
continued use for these ceremonies is attested by many old center 
poles which stand there. 

Three or four days before the time scheduled for the start of the 
public part of the dance, the leader goes, in the morning, with one 
or two old men to dig the hole for the center pole. They align this 
hole 150 to 250 yards, due east, by the sun, of the Sun Dance leader’s 
tent, but without regard to the position of that of his assistant, if any. 
Then, often without any preliminary prayer, they dig the hole, a 
crowbar generally serving in lieu of a digging stick. Once finished 
digging, they return home without further ado. 

Usually on the same day, the Sun Dance leader, accompanied by 
eight or nine men, at least one of them an old warrior, drives a wagon 
to get the center pole. He normally selects one of the fine cotton- 
wood trees on the river bank near the Agency. Then, before the men 
start chopping, all stand by the tree and take off their hats, while the 
leader prays (in TW’s words): ‘“The Creator has created this tree. I 
pray there may be no suspicion in this dance. We are humble and 
don’t know anything. I ask you, Creator, to bless us so we may live 
until old age.” 

Quitan Quay gives a somewhat different version of this prayer: 


igati éna’/nigundhengén né éwuka’/hando im 
Now / to you-(I)-am praying // I | you-cut down-will // By means of you 
né na/nisundhengén Zank né na/niSundhengén tu’iwi¢ané 
I / am praying / well [1 / am praying / (that) / youths 
éngu’/ndhaindé niwi¢a né:’cigwa énkhaind zana’han 
you-bless-will // Person / sick / you-by-means-of / make well! 
us mbes 


That is / theend / 


Freely, ‘‘Now I am praying to you. I will cut you down. By 
means of you I am praying, praying well: You will bless youths. 
Make a sick person well through yourself! It is the end.” 

The old warrior now hits the tree with a stick, killing it. The others 
chop down the tree without further ceremony. 


909871—52 29 


440 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Buin 151 


A similar ritual is performed for the east-running pine rafter, dubbed 
“backbone” by JM, ‘chief’? (tegwahin) by TW. The rest of the 
necessary timbers and brush occasion nothing of this sort, however, 
and may be brought to the Sun Dance field by Government trucks 
without ceremony. 

During the next day or two many tents are set up on the Sun Dance 
field. Visitors come from afar: Arapahoes, Bannocks, Utes, Chey- 
ennes, and members of other tribes. Finally, at the appointed time, 
all dress up in their best, preferably in native costumes, and mount 
their horses. As the morning continues, they take their posts for the 
sham battle. The young men gallop in the hills whooping and yelling. 
Some old women sit quietly in their old-fashioned saddles, waving 
sagebrush branches. A number of old men guard the lumber, which 
has already been piled on the field. 

After some show, the Sun Dance leader’s party attacks the guards; 
and either he or someone of his old warriors strikes the center pole. A 
picked herald—an old, distinguished warrior—announces the achieve- 
ment of this to the spectators. 

All now dismount and, with the help of wagons, move the logs close 
to the site of the Sun Dance lodge. This having been done, the Sun 
Dance leader prays by the side of the wood. 

Shortly afterward, the construction of the lodge begins. A number 
of men measure the radius of the planned structure with a rope, then 
locate the holes for the 12 center posts. These posts are now lifted 
and tamped into place. Then the rafters are measured and marked, 
while their tips are lifted onto the forks topping the side posts by means 
of joined poles. The east-running rafter remains on the ground. 

The center pole is now prepared. Previously, anyone who could, 
got the necessary buffalo skull, eagle, and willows without further cere- 
mony. A skin is generally pulled over the skull to imitate a bison 
head. (In 1938, however, the dancers borrowed a large mounted head 
from the Government Day School.) Then this is painted with white 
clay, and eyes are inserted, with yellow paint adorning the eyes and 
nose. Sage (Artemisia) is stuffed up the nose; the sagebrush is sup- 
posed to be a strong, healthy plant, and its purpose is to bring a long, 
healthy life (TC). 

The center pole has been brought into the center of the lodge, and 
now lies west of the excavation, with the fork pointing west. The Sun 
Dance leader obtains at this time a large bundle of leafy green saplings 
and lashes it underneath the center pole, at the fork. The buffalo head 
is placed on top of all this, and lashed on in turn. Meanwhile, one or 
more distinguished old men paint bands of black around the base of the 
pole with charcoal. A white rag is then tied to the fork on the left of 
the buffalo head, and a blue one on the fork to the right. 


No di}, . "WIND RIVER SHOSHONE SUN DANCE—SHIMKIN 44] 


Now a herald assembles many men to lift up the center pole. Eight 
of them hold sets of poles joined by ropes, there being four such sets 
altogether—two long and two short ones. Then the men start singing 
a fixed sacred song without words in a low voice, those with the poles 
keeping time by hitting them together. When the leader has given the 
word, the pole is lifted, then lowered again. This happens twice more. 
The fourth time the song is much louder, and all strain now to lift 
the pole successfully into place. This is done, and the pole, having 
been raised upright, is rotated so that the bison head faces west. Then 
earth is tamped down around it, although the small pile of rocks and 
the digging stick (or crowbar qua digging stick) are left undisturbed by 
its base. 

Following this, the east-running or chief rafter is put into place, but 
without singing or feinting. The raising of the west-running rafter 
comes next, then the south-running and north-running ones; others 
follow irregularly. The roof poles between the side posts are installed 
next in a counterclockwise series beginning on the east side. Then 
large tree branches are leaned against the side roof poles to form a thick 
wall with an opening only on the east. The lodge is complete. 

The modern symbolism involved in the Sun Dance structure is as 
follows: The number of black charcoal bands painted on the center 
pole corresponds to the number of full days that the Dance lasts. 
Thus in 1937 there were two (JM, MT). In Tom Compton’s words: 

The Sun Dance started with Christ’s fast and stay in the mountains. It was 

carried on from then to today, and is nearly the same now as it was a hundred years 
ago. Christ’s fast was for 12 days [sic], he had 12 disciples: today the Sun Dance 
has 12 poles symbolic of this. The buffalo head on the center pole represents the 
game furnished by God; the eagle, the game birds; the ‘‘willows”’ [leafy branches], 
Holy Water that Christ made in the mountains. 
Quitan Quay believes that the center pole symbolizes the crucifixion 
of Jesus, the 12 poles standing for the Twelve Apostles. One hopes 
to get good luck from the eagle on the east-running rafter, which in 
itself is meaningless. ‘TW agrees with him. 

The prayer songs that are sung when the center pole is lifted into 
place ask for help from the Spirit that the Dance might be successful, 
that the participants might have long lives—just as the center pole 
has had one.® The raising of this pole must be done by hand, and 
without the use of iron (TC). 

Of all this, DW says: in putting up the center pole, the Sun Dance 
chief prays up to the sky first. ‘Father, pity me, so that I’ll live a 
long time.”” He does not know the deity prayed to. Other concepts 
of his are stated by Hebard: 

The center pole, which should always be a cottonwood, was chosen by the orig- 
inators of the dance because of its superiority over all other trees as a dry-land 


48 The “Spirit of the Sun Dance” is Tom Compton’s private concept, so far as I know. 


4492 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLy. 151 


tree growing with little water or no water. This tree represents God. The 12 
long poles that are placed from the top of the center pole down to the circumfer- 
ence of the dance hall represent, according to our Indian beliefs, the 12 apostles of 
God, our Father. 

The eagle feathers at the top of the poles above the center pole also represent 
the 12 apostles of our Father, or God, and also being a sacred bird of our race, we 
Indians naturally regard the eagle with the highest esteem. The buffalo head in 
the crotch in the center pole represents a gift from God, our Father above, to His 
Indian children for food and clothing. [Hebard, 1930, p. 293.] 

During the late afternoon the prospective dancers begin their prepar- 
ations. They bathe. Then, either at home or in the Sun Dance 
leader’s tent, many paint themselves from the waist up with white 
clay, which may be got from anywhere, is not prayed over, but merely 
mixed with water and put on (TC, DW). This white clay is the main 
paint of the Dance, because it will dry the flesh quicker than any 
other. Any sickness will thus be dried out. Other paints won’t do 
that (TC). 

Each morning after the dance has started, the participants wipe off 
the paint with a damp cloth. Now they may put on any color of 
paint they wish, according to their visions (TC). Yellow is common. 
Some dancers, however, use no paint whatsoever. 

From the neck of each Sun Dancer hangs a single-holed whistle of 
eagle humerus (no other bone may be used), with an eagle pinfeather 
attached beneath its further end (fig. 21). In recent days a section of 
inner tube often replaces the strip of leather tied around the mouth of 
the whistle to keep the lips from cracking. The whistle is kept from 
year to year, may be inherited, but acquires no supernatural power in 
this fashion. It serves merely to dry out the body, to dry out disease 
from the body. There are no prayers connected with its manufacture 
(TC). 

To each little finger is tied an eagle down-feather, which has the 
same significance as the eagle on the east-running rafter (TC). 

There is nothing held in the hands at the beginning of the Dance, 
but the dancers may have a tobacco pouch with them, a pipe and to- 
bacco, or common cigarettes. Dreams or other supernatural sanctions 
give tobacco special meaning to particular individuals, though not 
invariably. Yet in the ceremony as a whole, tobacco has no special 
significance, nor does it have to be smoked in any ritual manner. 
The dancer merely sits down to smoke, or goes in another’s stall to 
do this in company. 

The dancers are naked except for an ankle-length skirt of light cal- 
ico, furnished with a drawstring, and suspended from a beaded belt. 
From the same belt also hangs a fancy apron, covered with beads, 
ribbons, and the like. Neither skirt nor apron involve any symbol- 


ANTHTOP. PAP. WIND RIVER SHOSHONE SUN DANCE—SHIMKIN 443 


ism. The feet are bare. The hair is not especially dressed (TC), al- 
though those with long, braided hair often intertwine strips of ermine 
or other fur. Around the head and waist Gnaphalium is still often 
placed, contributing only its aroma, but no supernatural help (DW). 
Friends and relatives bring blankets in which the dancers wrap them- 
selves when they rest. 

When night has fallen the dancers who are ready gather by the Sun 
Dance leader’s tent—in which no esoteric rites have taken place (TC, 
TW). They form one or two files facing west, the number being de- 
termined by the number of leaders, who head them. They then strip 
off their blankets and step forward gingerly, blowing lengthily on their 
whistles. They march to the west end of the lodge, then around it 
clockwise once, twice, or four times (according to different informants 
and observations) before entering. If there are two files, these split 
upon reaching the west end of the lodge, and pass each other on the 
east, as they keep circling it. 

Some men, who have been working, or in the mountains, might not 
be ready on time. Such persons may join the dance up until the first 
midnight. No one is asked to join the dance (TC); everyone goes in 
solely on his own initiative. 

The causes for entrance I will discuss fully in my interpretative sec- 
tion. Here, however, it is well to give some of the stated purposes. 
All stress the importance of the ceremony for the public good. ‘The 
dancers are suffering for everybody, for all human beings—just like 
Jesus” (TW). The gaining of supernatural Power is stressed by some, 
for Sun Dance visions are the most common means of getting it (PT). 
Many shamans use Sun Dance songs for curing. Others, particularly 
those whose primary religion is Peyote, underscore the difficulty of such 
an achievement. ‘‘We were not dancing for Power—they only got 
Power long ago” (TW). ‘They don’t try to get Power in the Sun 
Dance—it’s almost impossible—usually unnecessary. You should be 
humble. When they go in, it’s for the good of everyone” (GD).® Still 
others wish to supplicate for good health and long life, or sometimes to 
cure specific diseases, rheumatism especially (TW, BP). 

Once the dancer has joined, he is kept in the dance, and his conduct 
is guarded. Everyone, including the special police, watches that he 
does not eat or drink. Even ifhe were to sneak to the camp, the people 
would send him back hungry and thirsty. Unless he dives into the 
creek, he can get no water (TC). 

When the dancers have entered, they go to the west half of the lodge 
and take whatever places they choose, except that the leader stands 


49 These arguments are in accordance with the general Peyotist religious attitude. Compare also La Barre 
(1938, esp. pp. 93-104). 


444 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bunn 151 


directly under the east-running rafter, his assistant beside him. The 
leader now goes up to the center pole and prays. According to one in- 
formant (DW), he and the other dancers may first sit on their heels in 
their places and sing their four prayer songs. 

The singing now starts. The performers occupy the southeast 
quarter of the building. They consist of 10 or more men seated around 
a single large drum, which they beat with padded sticks; helped by 
more than a dozen women who sit nearby, rythmically waving willow 
branches up and down. One man, sitting east of the drum, holds a 
rattle of rawhide (formerly, buffalo scrotum) with stones inside, a 
feather from an owl or other bird tied to its end, and a cloth-wrapped 
handle (fig. 21). Watching the dancers, the rattler regulates the 
tempo of the music. For, although all dance in the same cadence, their 
steps are of different length, and it is the rattler’s job to see that the 
song continues until the last dancer has returned to his place. 

There are no rites connected with the singers, who are merely those 
who know the Sun Dance songs. Their number is indefinite. The 
best of them leads. There is some singing all the time (except during 
the breaks after the morning rite), but one party releases another after 
an hour and ahalforso. This is hard work, nearly as hard as dancing, 
for they must strain their voices continuously. (DW thought their 
work easy. He said that individuals might drink and eat, leave at any 
time they felt like doing so.) But, inasmuch as fine singers such as 
Logan Brown are well recognized, considerable prestige may accrue. 
Consequently, singers often visit from afar. Thus, one orchestra in 
1937 consisted of two Shoshone and eight Bannock and Ute; on the 
other hand, Logan Brown went over to Fort Hall to sing in the dance 
there. 

The music is started softly by one man, not the rattler, accompanied 
by four or five others, as well as by the gentle beating of the drum. 
The melody is invariably sung in a strongly nasalized voice. The 
melodic structure seems essentially simple, a constant lowering of 
pitch from the shrill beginning to the low and heavily glottalized end 
ofameasure. After several preliminary measures, five slow, ponderous 
drumbeats are given. The song now issues forth in full volume, and 
somewhat faster than before, with about 160 beats to the minute. 
The women now have joined in, but their song goes its own way, being 
merely the continuation of a single high-pitched note, broken by oc- 
casional trills, grace notes, and accidental quavers. Simultaneously, 
and with every step and beat of the drum, the dancers blow their 
whistles. For several minutes this continues; then, sharply, comes 


No uy, {?)~« WIND RIVER SHOSHONE SUN DANCE—SHIMKIN 445 


silence. Suddenly ponderous drumbeats break out once more, 10 
this time; and now a fleeting return of the dancing melody—finally, 
only the women’s voices continue to trill the last long-drawn-out note. 
Soon it starts all over again. 

The dancing takes some time to get under way. At first, many sit, 
smoking. Some stand in their places, shrugging their shoulders, hold- 
ing their forearms horizontally, their wrists limp; flexing their knees, 
lifting their heels slightly, whistling at every movement. After a 
while, one clears a path to the center pole with his feet, and soon begins 
dancing to it and back again. He may run or hop forward, then hop 
away backward; or use some slightly differing style. Others follow 
suit. Some dance in pairs, moving backward and forward, elbow to 
elbow. 

During the course of the evening, stragglers join the dance. About 
midnight, a fire is lit in a ceremonial manner, just east of the center 
pole. An old-time warrior brings in an armful of wood. As he stands 
at the entrance, the singers start a slow beat of the drum. Then the 
warrior sings a special prayer song, a blessing, to the Great Spirit, 
from whom it is a gift. It has no words, but only a distinctive tune. 

When he has ended, he puts down the wood and lights the fire. He 
may use matches. Fresh wood is secured by the same or a different 
warrior: a number of them get several armfuls of wood apiece, just 
before bedtime. Each time they bring in the wood, they sing the 
prayer song. Having done this, they leave. Afterward, anybody 
may put a stick of wood on the fire. 

For the next few hours, the dancing is perfunctory, most of the 
dancers resting and sleeping. Shortly before dawn, however, all re- 
sume dancing actively. Then the police clear the entranceway, while 
the dancers line up in a column of fours. As the sun is about to rise, 
the singers start a special song softly and slowly, while the dancers 
blow gentle blasts upon their whistles. When the sun rises, the sing- 
ing becomes more vigorous, the whistling loud, and even more pro- 
longed. Several dancers greet the sun by extending either the right 
arm or both arms level with the shoulder. 

The dancers then come forward and, wrapped in their blankets, sit 
around the fire. The leader and a few others then sing a special song, 
muffling their voices by placing one hand close to the mouth. The last 
notes of the song are followed by a blast from the dancers’ whistles 
which lasts as long as their breath holds out. Three more songs are 
similarly sung. 


446 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLL. 151 


The leader now rises, strips off his blanket, and goes in front of the 
center pole, where he stands praying. TW gives a sample text: 


ha: mek*  néma’p:é  né’waga’ pu’ ixweni§s * 
Yes / allright / My Father / me-toward / looking-immediately / 


némé® é§u’nthait ik‘ wi' 

us / you-blessing-are // Hereis / now / 

némi éSu’nthaip mek¥ nim’ i’ waix 
that with which you blessus // Allright / People / outhere / 


sogoBaix 3a:nk¥ hi’yimuk* yinkhain us 
outon Earth / well / progress! / forever // Thatis / 


sunt némi ésu’nthaip nu:n3a wi 
that way / that with which you blessus // Maybeindeed / now / 


ha’ gait né :cig’a ma’gup ha’/nixent Zana hanu 
who(m)soever / ul here inside / is-remaining / (you) well-make-may / 


wi suni’ hac nuhin te:‘nam waip:a_ dire:’péré 
now // furthermore / whatever / men-of / women-of / children-of / 


cu’cugu’é hi/higizo 3a:nk¥ oyot’ ga:nkw nayig‘vi 
old men-(of) / old women-(of) / good / all / good / become ! 


fox 


& gétiza dé’oyip ke’imp i/yunkumanky¥ 
from now on-exactly / sickness / not-thence / thus bothered / 


ma’sorain Su’waix mek*¥ néma’p:e_ déas 
living // that way / allright / My-Father / and / 


némba:’ Bi né/mi eSu’/ndhait Su’we’imp 
My-Elder Brother / us / you-blessing-are // Thenceforth / 
mak’hait kéa/nuhwac nim’ dé”’oyBit 
here-from / departed-having / people / sickness / 
nasuwa’3ina, us wi‘ su:’Begas 
forget // Thatis / now / ended 


Freely translated: ‘‘Yes, all right, My Father, as you look toward 
me immediately, you are blessing us. Here is now that with which 
you bless us: “All right, People out here, out on Earth, progress well 
forever!’ That is the way we are blessed by you. Maybe indeed, 
whomsoever remains ill inside here you will make well now. Further- 
more, may whatever men, women, children, old men, old women 
there may be become well, from now on exactly, not bothered thus by 
sickness! That way, all right, My Father and My Elder Brother, 
you are blessing us: ‘Thenceforth, having departed from here, let 
people forget sickness!’ It is ended.” 


50 Literally, ‘“‘being in a condition of looking immediately,’’ from pui (to look), —xwan (immediate future), 
and -i§ (participial suffix). ; 

51 It should be noted that the Peyotist Sun Dance leaders Tom Wesaw and Ben Perry deviate from normal 
Shoshone practice by using in their prayers the exclusive pronouns némé (we or ours, only) rather than in- 
clusive damé (you and we, or your and our). 


SoH; 4? WIND RIVER SHOSHONE SUN DANCE—SHIMKIN 447 


Dick Washakie, a nonparticipant, has formulated another concept 
of the prayer, which, although somewhat parallel in style to the one 
above, differs in content, being more self-centered. Thus: 


cu:’mek*¥ i’gaéi né’Sundhengén éna*’ nisSundheygén 
Verily / now /  I-(am)-blessing-causing / to you-praying / 
némi’agwa’ na’nié e:7ane mi’agwai 
as I keep going / (you be) a helper / protractedly / going-indefinitely // 
meyi’gwit Sukani éna*’nisundhengén dé’as 
To him (Lam) asayer // That is it / to you-praying / also 
nanarére:’peré3i can’ mi’agwa’ meyi’gwit 
parents and children-little / well / going-indefinitely // To him (I am) a sayer // 
nésu’ Begant éna?/niSundhengén cu:/mek¥ néma’p:é 
To me-enough // To you-praying / verily | My Father 


néna’ngasundha uS mbes Su’ begant 
me-hear-blessing-may (you be) // Thatis / already / enough // 


na’ru’engéma:n 
Relating-finished-have / 

In other words, ‘‘ Verily now, I am supplicating, praying to you, as 
I keep living, that you help me live long. To Him I am a sayer of 
this: ‘That is it, I pray to you also: that parents and little children 
will keep going well!’ To Him I am a sayer of this: ‘That is enough 
forme. I pray to you, verily, My Father, may you pity me! That is 
the end, enough.’ I have finished relating.”’ 

The prayer finished, the dancers go back to their old places and 
strip off their clothes under cover of their blankets, which they 
wrap around themselves. Then they walk around idly outside the 
lodge. Some attend to nature, others chat, still others take a nap. 
At the same time the spectators and the singers leave for breakfast, 
the latter first placing the drum in the heat of the sun in order to 
tighten it. 

The ashes of the fire are removed from the lodge after the morning 
ceremony, and fresh earth is put in to keep the ashes from burning 
the spectators’ feet. (In 1937, the ashes were piled around the foot 
of the center pole.) 

After all is ready, the singers come in, and the dance starts. The 
singers change for meals, but there is music continually until an hour 
before sundown. At this time all rest until nightfall. The dancers 
then may go outside a little way and lie around, but may not drink. 

Thus the day continues. The dancers, now beginning to feel a little 
tired, alternate periods of rest and activity. From now on, anyone ot 
them might suddenly faint. If this happens, he is covered by a blanket 
where he falls—he might be gaining supernatural power. If a vision 
is incipient, especially when the dancer is very thirsty, the buffalo on 
the center pole begins to look real. ‘‘He’s going to fight you” (TW). 


448 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Buny, 151 
Further details vary according to individual experience. The most 
common features are hallucinations of drinking water, and then of 
seeing, often in a symbolic way, dead people in the mountains. Opin- 
ions also vary as to the source of the power gained. Some (KA, PP, 
TC) give credit to the ministrations of the Sun Dance leader. But 
Tom Compton has furthermore his belief in a “Spirit of the Sun 
Dance.”’ Others, like TW, give the credit to God, while QQ attributes 
visions to the power of suffering and prayer in themselves. 

After the dancer has recovered consciousness, he gets up. He feels 
well, neither hungry nor thirsty (DW, TC). 

In the afternoon, curing of the ill often takes place. Several sick 
people may stand on the edge of the sacred dancing ground, facing 
the west, while the Sun Dance leader brushes away the illness from 
them with an eagle feather. Or both the leader and his assistant may 
stand facing the center pole, while their ill friend stands facing them. 
The leader then raises his right arm to shoulder level and prays. Tom 
Wesaw’s version, given for the benefit of Leslie Isis, follows: 

mek néma’p:é ni’ wagant ba:’na pu’igwinis 
all right / My-Father / me-toward / above-from / looking-immediately / 
im né na/nizawai né nangasundhey* ik 
you-by / I/  help-drawdown // I/ hear-blessing-cause // Here is 
wi‘ te’ :nap:é né:’cig‘wa 3a:’mana’hanu 
now / man / sick / well-him-make-(you)-may // 
né éna’/ngaSundhak énéndé’as némaba’ :fi 3i/zas 
my supplication to you / you-also / Our Elder Brother / Jesus / 
ma/gizonai ni¥ éSu/ndhait pént 
him-save-willi ndefinitely! // Person (whom)-you blessing / for whom 
é8u/ndhaik diBizi mek¥ ni na’ngasundhain 
your blessing (is) / great // Allright / ibe hear-blessing-am // 
us suBe 
That is / all / 

Freely, “All right, My Father, as you look immediately down at 
me from above, I draw a benediction through you. I supplicate. 
Here is a sick man, may you make him well! My supplication to 
you also, Our Elder Brother Jesus: save him! The person whom you 
bless, his blessing is great. All right, I supplicate. That is all.” 

After that, the leader brushes his illness away with an eagle feather. 
Although the leader repeats this act on the third day, on the second 
it is the assistant who prays for the ill man. In Ben Perry’s words, 
paraphrasing his prayer for Leslie Isis: 


ha: mekw néma’p:é go:d pa:’na né’wagant 
Yes / all right / My-Father / God [ from above / me-toward 
pu’ihwanis ik wi‘ né’:cig’a 3a:’mana’ac 


begin tolook {/ hereis / now / a sick one // Well-him-having-made / 


lap al Pe WIND RIVER SHOSHONE SUN DANCE—SHIMKIN 449 


3a:nk sik so’gowaix 3a ink mi’/agwai 
well / thisone / Earth-out on / well / walking-will keep on // 
ik wi‘ néx né han3‘wap nena’ N ‘iwp 
Here are / now / wetoo/ I-friend-with / my-like -relative-made / 
ha’ningeg@uindé” wi‘ né’wagant pu’ixwanis ik 
make-cause-keep on-will be // Now / me-toward / begin to look / this 
te’ napa né:’cigwai su:/ndé’i wi‘ su’ni’’ac dé’as 
man (obj.) / sick / will bless! // Now / furthermore / also / 
mandi’rep manawai’pa manacu’gupa dé’as sundé 
his children here / his own woman here / bis own old man here / also / will bless! // 
déa’s suniya’ hac oyogus né:’cig’a pén magu’phain 
Also / furthermore / all / (the) sick / who / here-inside-are 
né na’/niSundhain 3a:na’/nha us su’ Begas 
I pray / well may become // It is / ended / 


Or, “Yes, all right, My Father God, as you begin looking down to- 
ward me from above—here is now one sick. (You) having made him 
well, he will continue walking on this Earth. Here are we two, my 
dear friend and I, my future adopted relative.» Now, as you keep 
looking toward me, (you) will bless this sick man! Now, further- 
more, you will bless his children, his own woman, his own old man 
who are here! Also, further, that all the sick who are in this place 
may become well, Iam praying. It is ended.” 

The second evening and the second morning repeat the first exactly. 

After the second sunrise rite, friends and relatives of the dancers 
build enclosures for them. Carrying saplings, branches, and cloths, 
they step on the dance floor without removing their shoes. They 
build a shed for each dancer by planting 7-foot-long saplings vertically 
several feet apart, about 6 feet away from the west wall. Cross bars 
a yard off the ground connect them with a railing of similar height 
previously built along the west wall. Against these bars are placed 
long, leafy branches. The front of the shed is screened by a hanging 
cloth, often spiritedly painted with mounted men and buffaloes. On 
the floor lie branches of willow and sagebrush on which some water has 
been sprinkled. 

Various incidental activities take place on this day. Many dancers 
change paint, or substitute sagebrush branches for eagle hand-orna- 
ments. Shamanizing occurs. Numbers of old men, seated by the 
rail on the south side of the lodge, take it upon themselves to harangue 
the dancers. 

The thirst of the dancers, as well as their fatigue, is now very con- 
siderable, and occasionally they try to get relief through magical 
means. Thus, in 1929, Zari (Charley Nagoramie, I believe) got up in 
front of the center pole on the third day. He had an eagle feather 

53 This appears to be an isolated instance of ceremonial adoption in the Wind River Shoshone Sun Dance. 


Compare ceremonial adoption in the transfer of society privileges among the Arapaho (Kroeber, 1902-1904, 
p. 155) and Hidatsa (Lowie, 1913, p. 225 ff.), 


450 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Buuy. 151 


in his hand. He turned toward the west and motioned, beckoning. 
A little later it started raining on the whole camp. The old fellow at 
the drum, Do’Sabongoci (or Little White Horse), an old Sun Dance 
leader, took the feather from his hat band, and started making scat- 
tering motions with it. Right away the clouds broke up and floated 
away. Many saw this happen (MT, LS).® 

The third evening and third morning repeat the routine of the first 
and second days. About noon, the dance ends. The leader and the 
other dancers are blessed by prominent visitors or local old men to 
whom they give presents. The manner in which they give these gifts 
I have not elucidated satisfactorily: it seems that some make previous, 
informal arrangements; others place shawls and other finery by the 
center pole, which the old people gather up, blessing the dancers in re- 
turn. None of the gifts exceeds $5, for the Agency frowns upon larger 
ones. 

When this time comes, the dancer steps forward, and the old man 
faces him, holding up his right arm, and prays, in Quitan Quay’s 
words: 


nu:’ma Zankw mi’/agwai 6;/ine Zank¥ 
May-he here / well (be) / going-indefinitely / protractedly / well / 
mi’agwai dikapa 3a :nk* di’kamiagwai 
going indefinitely / food (obj.) / good / eating-going-indefinitely / 
pa:’i yi’ wikai us ma 3ank’ 
water (obj.) / drinking-indefinitely // Thatis/ ‘he here / good / 
né’ wikandé’ é/ine miaga*aguindé’ 3a:nk* 
feeling-will / protractedly / going-indefinitely-keep on will / well / 
na’/nisundhengen si’ Ba so’goBa Zank* 
(I am) praying // This on / Earth (obj.) / well / 
mané’ widuiguindoi na’/nisundhengen us suwaix 
his-feeling-will-keep on-will / (I) am praying / That is / all 


Freely, this says: ‘May this one here go well, protractedly go well, 
eating food go well, drinking go well! That he here will protractedly 
be feeling well, indefinitely keep on going well, I pray. That on this 
Earth he will keep on feeling well, I pray. That is all.” 

After this, water is brought to each end of the line of dancers by old 
men who have no special title but who have lived a long time, so that 
the dancers, too, might live long. The Sun Dance chief or some prom- 
inent spectator offers a prayer for the water, a bucket of which is now 
passed from both ends at once, so that each may drink twice. Only 
the dancers may drink, and they do so in order to-wash away illness, to 
get well in drinking. They rinse their mouths, but only vomit occa- 
sionally, for the water today is pure, without clay (TW). When 


53 Compare Akwa/ala rain-chasing. Cf. Gifford (1928, pp. 347-348). 


No uy, -’® ~=WIND RIVER SHOSHONE SUN DANCE—SHIMKIN 451 


finished, they change into ordinary clothes, pack up and leave. Out- 
siders may come in now. 

The dancers rest, bathe, and drink during the afternoon following 
the dance, then go to the public feast in the evening, which is generally 
on a beef. Social dances, such as the narayar, or Ghost Dance, and 
the waip:énékar, or Women’s Dance, may follow.* 

For days afterward, sickly people bring in their old clothes and tie 
them to the center pole, so that they may be relieved like the dancers. 
Formerly, the Sun Dance lodge was left alone until it rotted and fell. 
Now, nothing is touched for a month or two, except possibly by 
children, after which the Sun Dance committee sells all the wood in 
the lodge other than the center pole. The proceeds go into the treas- 
ury for the next year’s Sun Dance. 


THE MODERN SUN DANCE—1937 VERSION 


In 1937, a middle-aged shaman named Tom Compton let it become 
known on Decoration Day that he had received supernatural orders to 
give the Sun Dance.” (See pl. 30, upper.) Lynn St. Clair became the 
head of the Committee, while Lehi Aoah, Gilbert Day, and Logan 
Brown were members. A little later, it was decided to hold the Dance 
from the 3d to the 6th of July. So, toward the end of June, Compton. 
and his family moved out of their log cabin into a tent which they set 
up on the Sun Dance field. 

On the morning of July 1, Compton walked out of his tent, and was 
joined by an old man mounted on a horse, who held a digging-stick in 
his hand. The two of them came some 130 yards away from the tent. 
Then the old man dismounted, and aligned himself just due east of 
the entrance of Compton’s tent. At the place so located he dug a 
shallow hole with his stick, and placed in it a small pile of rocks. 
Compton stood by, merely watching. The old man, having finished, 
remounted his horse, and left. Compton departed also. (See pl. 30, 
lower.) 

Toward the evening of the 1st a few tents—here and there a tipi— 
were pitched as visitors began arriving. More kept coming all day 
the 2d and on the morning of the 3d, reaching a total of 50 or more 
by that time. 

On the 2d, the desired trees (cottonwoods forked at the top, for the 
vertical posts, and pines, for the rafters) were selected, chopped down, 
trimmed, and hauled prosaically in Indian Service trucks to a single 
spot some 600 yards south of the Sun Dance field. But the Indians 


54 For descriptions of Shoshone dances see Lowie (1915 b), especially pp. 821-822. 

55 Decoration Day has long been an important event among the Wind River Shoshone. In preparation 
for it many families make artificial fiowers of paper to adorn the graves of the soldiers and their own deceased 
in Fort Washakie Cemetery. 


452 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLL. 151 


did not move this lumber to its ultimate place of use until the morning 
of the 3d. 

I came on the scene at 10:30 a. m., when events were already under 
way (fig. 21). Six or eight old men, mounted, with few exceptions un- 


=> ee en NGESERVATION 


THE SUN DANCE FIELD |e b AS * 


O 100200 300 400 


YARDS 
COMPTON'S TENT 
ae CENTER POLE HOLE 
BATTLING HORSEMEN 
ANY Y © 


STEWART 'S STOVE, 


aa 


a, GAS STAT/ON AND = ae 
y\CAMBLING HOUSE fi (igas | tC PECTATORS 


OG KV: 

‘© SAAN 
APMP 
[as oe 


LEGEND 


<:2-RAFTER INDICATED 
@ COMPTON 

® OTHER DANCERS x 
HH SHED GUILT JUL. SF & 
@ CLD MAN 
@ WOMAN SINGER 
2 MAN SINGER 


RATTLER SUN DANCE WHISTLE 

FIREPLACE AT NIGHT ees 

AND FOR SUNAISE CERENO 

@ oruM 

X HANGING LAMP 

£24. SPECTATORS 

C LOG MARKING OFF 
SACRED GROUND 


| PLAN OF THE SUN DANCE LOOGE SUN DANCE RATTLE 
Figure 21.—Sun Dance layout and paraphernalia. 


armed, dressed as usual but for a few strangely clean and gaudy shirts, 
guarded the lumber and several pairs of wagon wheels nearby. Other 
horsemen were everywhere. Far away, up on the hills to the south, 
young men galloped furiously hither and yon. On the plain to the 
north was a large body of riders, among whom I could recognize Tom 


NO ui], -{” ~=WIND RIVER SHOSHONE SUN DANCE—SHIMKIN 453 


Compton. On his head was a red kerchief; on his face were vertical 
streaks of white paint, and dark glasses; around his waist was a fancy 
beaded belt. Close by him was Quitan Quay, conspicuous in a fringed 
buckskin costume. 

To one side two middle-aged women dressed in blue-and-red imita- 
tion elk-tooth dresses, were quietly sitting on horses gaily decked out in 
beads, using old-style saddles with very high pommels and cantles. 
The women’s faces I could not see, but in their hands they held 
willow branches. Also bearing willow branches were the five boys be- 
side them, who were, however, plainly dressed. 

Suddenly, Compton’s group began to gallop toward the pile of lum- 
ber. I could not see what happened in the confusion of the moment 
at which they reached it, but, soon after, Quitan Quay left the group 
and started to ride back and around. He was shouting, apparently, 
that Compton had shot the center pole. 

Then all dismounted and joined together in the jobs of putting the 
logs on wagon wheels and harnessing the horses to haul them to 
the Sun Dance field. Once the group had arrived there, the timber 
was unloaded close to the spot at which the old man had dug a hole 
on the Ist of July. After this, all rested for a while, except for Quay, 
who rode around again, urging everyone to hurry over for the prayer 
that was to follow. Compton was sitting on the future center pole, 
nonchalantly smoking a cigarette. 

In a few minutes, about 11:15 a. m., when a fairly large crowd had 
gathered, Compton got up, faced to the east with head bowed, and 
started to pray in a scarcely audible, monotonous voice. The heads 
of the others who were lined up on both sides of the future center pole 
were also bowed, and their attitude seemed serious. Farther away, 
however, the behavior of the spectators was scarcely affected. Some 
kept on walking, others talking; Logan Brown, for example, was 
laughing most of the time. 

When the prayer had ended, Quitan Quay announced that all the 
activities were over for the time being, and would be resumed when the 
sun would be—he pointed—at its position of 3 or 4 o’clock. So, with 
most of the others, I then left. 

But a few men stayed on, and started work under Compton’s direc- 
tion. They measured the radius of the planned lodge with a rope, 
located the holes for the 12 outer posts, dug the holes with steel crow- 
bars and shovels, put in the posts, and tamped the earth around them. 
(See pl. 31, upper.) By 2 p. m., when I returned, one or two of the 
posts were up. 

In an hour, the men had finished erecting the side posts, and begun 
measuring and notching the rafters, the tips of which they placed in 
the forks of their proper posts with the help of paired poles tied to- 


454 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLL. 151 


gether with rope. Only the “backbone,” or east-running rafter, was 
left on the ground. 

At the same time, Compton was preparing the center pole. He tied 
the willow bundle underneath the center pole, just at the fork. Then 
someone brought in a good buffalo bull’s head—a poor one had been 
rejected first—which Compton now stuffed with sagebrush and 
furnished with eyes of clay. Then he lashed it firmly to the pole and 
bundle. (See pl. 31, lower.) 

Meanwhile, Moses Tassitsie, who seemed to be supervising the work, 
painted two bands of black around the center pole. (See pl. 31, lower.) 
They were each about a foot wide, and a foot apart. The lower edge of 
the bottom band was some five feet from the butt of the pole. The 
pigment was charcoal, which Tom Compton took from the fireplace of 
his own tent in a metal pan, mixed with water, and ground. At last, 
after the painting had been completed, Compton tied a white rag 
around the fork to the right of the buffalo head, a blue one on the fork 
to the left. 

About 4 p. m., when all this had been done, a different herald 
shouted an announcement to get all the available men together. 
About 20 of them then lined up on either side of the center pole. 
Kight others, among them Compton and myself, were farther back, 
holding the sets of lifting poles, one short and one long set on each 
side of the center pole. 

When all were alined, seven or eight of the men just by the pole 
started singing in a low voice. The men with the lifting poles kept 
time by hitting their poles together. When the song had been ended, 
Compton said, ‘“‘me:k*!”’ (ready!), and they lifted the center pole waist- 
high off the ground, then let it down again. This was repeated twice 
more. The fourth time, they sang much more loudly. Then they 
placed the center pole in its hole and, with much effort (the lifting 
poles coming into play toward the end) raised it upright. Now they 
rotated it until the buffalo head faced exactly west; then they filled 
the hole with dirt and tamped it down. Following this, the rafters 
were put into place according to the regular routine mentioned pre- 
viously. (See pl. 32.) 

Among the spectators I saw Dick Washakie sitting on his horse, 
interested but inactive. 

It was now 6:50 p. m., and I left, being gone until 7:30. At that 
time the last of the large tree branches that formed the wall of the lodge 
were being placed against the rafters: the lodge was complete. Comp- 
ton, still in his ordinary dress, was shouldering a shovel, hurrying from 
his final work. (See pl. 33.) 

As darkness fell, activity gradually increased about the Sun Dance 
field. Here and there could be heard the testing of drums and occa- 


No diy)’ WIND RIVER SHOSHONE SUN DANCE—SHIMKIN 455 
sionally the single shrill note of a Sun Dance whistle. Several times a 
herald yelled for the dancers to get ready to assemble. About Comp- 
ton’s tent were many people and much activity, and from it, at about 
9 p. m., six men and youths wrapped in blankets stepped out. Naked 
but for their scanty Sun Dancers’ garb, blowing their whistles in long- 
drawn-out blasts, they shuffled forward gingerly. They went straight 
to the west wall of the lodge, then to the north, circling it completely 
once, and in. 

What happened then, I could not see, because of the press of the 
crowd, but I caught a glimpse of Compton coming up to the center 
pole, and heard him praying. Then the singing started. 

The orchestra began singing softly, led by Logan Brown—not the 
rattler—who was accompanied by four or five of the others, as well as 
the gentle beating of the drum, about 130 beats to the minute. The 
melody, sung in a high-pitched, strongly nasalized voice, was com- 
plicated by individual trills and even whoops, but seemed to revolve 
around the meaningless syllables: ‘‘ya ...he’’, which rose in pitch, 
and then dropped to a long lower note, to be followed by a variant, 
“va: ...a...he’’, with the “ya” now being trilled and lengthened.® 

For 12 or 16 beats of the drum this continued. Then came a pause, 
and 5 slow, ponderous beats. 

Now a full dancing rhythm was taken up. All joined in a pleasing 
blend of men’s and women’s voices, short, shrill blasts of Sun Dance 
whistles, and simultaneous beats of the drum—now about 160 a min- 
ute. The melody was a little different, insofar as I could grasp it out 
of its complicated choral arrangement. It started with a descending 
“he: ... ha’’,*” and continued the final “a,” rippled by several trills, 
for a number of beats; and then did the same for ‘‘he: e: ha.’ For 
several minutes this continued. A sudden silence, 10 solemn drum- 
beats, a momentary return of the dancing melody, and the continued 
trilled note of the women’s song marked the finale. 

The dancing started slowly. At first, most of the dancers merely 
stood in their places and blew their whistles. One also shrugged his 
shoulders, flexed his knees slightly and lifted his heels a little off the 
ground. Others yet sat, smoking and chatting. After half an hour 
of this, Compton came forward from his place due west of the center 
pole. He shuffled his feet carefully, picking up stray rocks and weeds, 
which he threw toward the center pole. When he arrived within 4 or 
5 feet of it, he turned his back and walked casually to his place. His 
example was soon followed. A little later, Compton danced forward 


56 Low pitch on the first syllable; low, rising pitch on the second. 
57 High, falling pitch on the first syllable; low pitch on the second. 
88 High, falling pitch on the first two syllables; low pitch on the last. 


909871—52 30 


456 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLL. 151 


within 4 or 5 feet of the center pole, using a short running shuffle that 
barely took his feet off the ground; shaking his torso with every step, 
elbows bent, forearms horizontal, and wrists limp, he blew his whistle 
loudly with every step. Then he retreated to his place by a series of 
rhythmical, short hops with his feet together. Others followed suit, 
although some shuffled their feet going backward as well as forward. 
Some good friends danced in pairs, elbow to elbow. Never did anyone 
turn his eyes away from the center pole. But the number dancing 
thus was never great at any one time. Most kept dancing in place, 
or continued to sit and smoke. 

While this was going on, the spectators milled around in the space 
open to them, and children played even on the border of the dance 
eround without being chased away. Several times men came into 
the sacred area without removing their shoes. They were bringing 
blankets for the Sun Dancers. 

During the course of the night a number of latecomers joined the 
dance, straggling in singly, so that by the next morning there were 38 
in all. This number included 4 Idaho Shoshone; 2 Bannock; 1 Sho- 
shone from Washakie, Utah; 1 Ute; 3 Wyoming Arapaho; and 1 
Arapaho from Oklahoma. The local contingent was almost as heter- 
ogeneous, ranging in age, for example, from Sequiel Hurtado, Jr., who 
was 19, to Louis Enos in his late 70’s. I left about 11 p. m. 

IT returned at 3:50a.m. There was now a fire just east of the center 
pole, around which most of the spectators were huddled. The singers 
were a different group from that of the evening before. They were 
doing rather poorly. They were obviously tired, their timing was off, 
and their notes went sour quite often. Most of the dancers were 
sitting or lying down, wrapped tightly in their blankets against the 
cold. A few danced desultorily. The picture of apathy was complet- 
ed by a pair of Indian cowboys, much the worse for liquor, who stag- 
gered in across the dance floor to give one dancer a package of ciga- 
rettes. (See pl. 34, upper.) 

As it became lighter, however, the singing became stronger, and 
more and more dancers joined in, dancing energetically, for it was 
rather chilly. Then a couple of middle-aged men quite unceremo- 
niously cleared all the spectators out of the entranceway. At 4:40 
a. m., the dancers lined up just west of the center pole, their blankets 
at their feet, four abreast in the first line, an irregular number in the 
ones behind it. The sun was just about to rise. The singers now 
started to sing softly and slowly a special song, while the dancers blew 
continued gentle blasts upon their whistles. 

The sun rose, and the singing became more vigorous, the whistling 
loud, and even more prolonged. Several dancers greeted the sun by 


Noun)’ WIND RIVER SHOSHONE SUN DANCE—SHIMKIN 457 


raising either the right or both arms to shoulder level. (See pls. 34, 
lower; pl. 35.) 

When the song had ended, the dancers filed forward and seated 
themselves, huddled in their blankets, in a circle around the fire. 
(See pl. 36, upper.) Compton was next to the center pole, and facing 
east. Softly, his voice muffled by a hand held partly over his mouth, 
Compton began to sing, joined only by a few of the other dancers. 
The rest merely bowed their heads. The last notes of the song were 
followed by a blast from their whistles that lasted as long as did the 
dancers’ breath. 

Three more songs were similarly sung. 

Then Compton got up, stripped off his blanket, and stood by the 
center pole, facing the rismg sun. His appearance was ghastly, his 
exhaustion emphasized by the white paint around his eyes. His head 
was bowed a little, one hand rubbed against the other from time to 
time; he swayed erratically from side to side. All were quiet—even 
the drunken cowboys; nearly all bowed their heads. In a low, barely 
audible voice, Compton started to pray, almost to chant. I could 


catch words:‘‘. . . good life—indefinitely . .. much food ...may be... 
I pray.” 
(3a:nk’ mi’agwai...so:di’kapa...na’nha... néSu’ndhengén .. . ) 


These 5 minutes of prayer marked the emotional climax of the Sun 
Dance. 

At the conclusion of the prayer, the dancers went back to their old 
places where, under cover of their blankets, they stripped off their 
regalia, leaving one blanket tied around the waist. Then they went in 
to sleep a little, and I left, at 5:55 a. m. 

I noticed no changes in the procedure of the dance until my visit at 
9:45a.m.onJuly 5. About 25 poles some 7 feet high had been planted 
in the ground, about 6 feet away from the farther wall, to which they 
were connected by cross bars raised 3 feet off the ground, and spaced 
3or4feet apart. On the cross bars were leaned branches; cloth screens 
hung down between the vertical poles. The sheds so formed were 
lined with branches and with sage. (See pl. 37.) 

The dancers were painted differently now, some having their bodies 
covered entirely with yellow. Most of them danced in pairs. Instead 
of eagle down-feathers, one had a long frond of sage in his hand. 

When I returned at 3:30 in the afternoon, only one or two were 
dancing, the others lying in their sheds. Then a number of women 
and one girl alined themselves directly south of the center pole, all 
facing the west. Compton, with an eagle wing in his right hand, now 
danced up from his stall to the center pole. From there he walked 
behind the nearest of the women, and brushed down her back from 
shoulder to foot with his eagle wing. He did this to the others also. 


458 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLL, 151 


An hour later, during a lull in the singing, one of the old men seated 
by the south barrier to the dance floor fanning themselves with eagle 
feathers, started to harangue the dancers in what I later learned was 
Arapaho. 

On the 6th it started to rain heavily, and as an unfortunate result 
the end of the dance came earlier than expected. So, when I arrived 
at noon, all was over. The dancers were in their stalls, changing to 
ordinary dress, and emptying rapidly the several cases of Coca Cola 
which were on the dance floor. Among those who brought in their 
clothes I saw Marshall Washakie. 

By the center pole was a large pile of clothes, most of which were 
soon taken away by old men and women. I saw one dancer pay an 
old man a dollar, presumably for a blessing he had received. 

Soon the dancers were walking out of the lodge and about, looking 
lean but far from exhausted, and seeming rather proud of themselves. 

That evening, I learned later, there was a feast, among the ingre- 
dients of which were coffee and cookies. I did not attend because of 
the heavy rain. Incidentally, I also learned that a number of Bannock 
had put on a Ghost Dance for an hour or so one night of the Sun Dance. 

Toward the end of July, I happened one morning to look into the 
Sun Dance lodge. Inside, a number of youths were practicing the 
whistling and dancing of Sun Dancers. On the center pole, about 4 
feet off the ground, were tied very many old clothes. Otherwise, the 
lodge was untouched. 


The leader of the Sun Dance in 1937, Tom Compton, is an interest- 
ing person. He is a half-blood and was about 50 at that time. Two 
half-brothers and a maternal uncle on his mother’s side were shamans; 
the background of his white, paternal lineage is not known to me. 

Compton was born at Lemhi, Idaho, and came to Wind River only 
in 1923. He was accompanied by several relatives, among them his 
brother James, now (i. e., 1937) an Agency policeman. For the last 
12 years Compton has been practicing shamanism actively. Eco- 
nomically he has not been extremely successful, and has had to eke 
out a living with WPA work. 

Although his house is poorer than the average, his wife is energetic 
in maintaining the household. His children are bright and leaders at 
school. No serious family trouble has occurred in his home. 

Compton’s education is clearly better than average, yet he is close 
enough to the old habits to abandon his house for a tent at the death of 
his mother. He is not antagonistic toward the hospital and physician, 
and has been interested in the new trachoma treatments, and willing to 
take advantage of them. But he holds his own Medicine as something 
apart, incommensurable. 


Noy F4* WIND RIVER SHOSHONE SUN DANCE—SHIMKIN 459 


White opinion of him is not high: he is reputed to be an alcoholic. 
Indian opinion varies. Thus Millie Guina, a young Sage Creek woman 
quite representative of people of her age, is sympathetic to him and 
believes he is trying to help them all. But one of the main figures in 
the Peyote cult told me that Compton was shiftless, neither liked nor 
respected by the other Indians. A half-blood, influential as a one-time 
leader of the Wolf Dance and Indian judge, was very uncomplimentary 
to Compton. He stated that the latter had had neither visions nor 
supernatural power, and was really giving a pseudo-Sun Dance that 
would help no one. “He was doing it just for the money he might 
get out of it.” 

I was strongly impressed by Compton the first time I met him. 
Without persuasion on my part, he started to talk of his Sun Dance 
experiences and visions. He talked rapidly and continuously in a soft 
monotonous voice. His manner was deadly serious, his facial muscles 
were tense, and his eyes shone noticeably. When he talked, nothing 
seemed more obvious, understandable, and true than his visionary 
experiences. He seemed permeated with great love and pity for the 
world, a desire to relieve its suffering. 

Contrasting strongly with this was the sight of his dog, tied up, 
allegedly for egg sucking, and nearly dead from starvation. He 
taunted it with food. I tossed it a few scraps, and it cringed violently 
when I did so. (It is noteworthy that many Shoshone, particularly 
Tassitsie, show remarkable gentleness with animals.) Compton’s ill 
mother, her eyes suppurating from trachoma, did not appear well 
cared for either. 

Compton took peculiar pride in her. ‘‘You wouldn’t be doing very 
well if you were as old as she. She’s 114!’ To my eyes she didn’t 
appear older than 75. 

I saw him again on July 1, when he had already moved out on the 
Sun Dance field. There was a marked change: house, children, even 
—to some degree—his mother, were spick and span. His dog was no 
longer tethered and looked merely very emaciated. He asked me to 
photograph his children in Indian dress. He was relaxed, pleasant, 
and smiling when he led me over to see the digging of the hole for the 
center pole. (However, I learned that he had just been released from 
jail for driving an automobile while drunk.) 

Following the first morning ceremony, a few minutes after his dra- 
matic prayer, I talked to him again. I noticed no emotional tension in 
him. He was jocularly commenting to me that, while the Sun Dancers 
were as yet chatting and walking around very spryly this morning, it 
would be very different two mornings later. 

I saw him another time just after the Sun Dance, while he was guz- 
zling Coca Cola. He seemed relieved and rather proud of his physical 


460 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL 151 


ability. ‘‘We have just passed through a great desert.’”’ He was glad 
that the rain had come. And, despite the fact that no one had fainted 
or had had visions, he seemed satisfied and thought the Sun Dance had 
been very successful. 

His own account of his visions and supernatural experiences gives 
particularly good insight both into the norms of such affairs and his 
deviations therefrom. Almost verbatim, it is as follows: 


The first Sun Dance I attended was at Fort Hallin 1908. I knew nothing about 
it then. I had just returned from school, where I had got hurt playing football. 
The doctors pronounced it heart disease; they did not expect me to live. Iwas 
sent home, very sick. The old-timers told me to try the Sun Dance . . . I was 
going to die anyway. 

It lasted 4 days; by the second, I felt very bad; better the third, and by the 
night of the third day, normal. 

After that I took notice of the dance, and went into three others, nearly every 
year. My heart never bothered me. I saw several other cures. 

On the fifth time, I fainted. I didn’t feel weak—something just batted me on 
the head. I did not know whether or not I had fainted. 

Some kind of a human—it floated about a foot and a half above the earth— 
drew my attention. It floated like afog. Then I tried to run it out of the dance 
hall. Then it made a dive at me, hitting me with its shoulder and head. It 
knocked me head over heels, and went on beyond, leaving me lying there. 

After I hit the ground I knew nothing for an hour or an hour and a half. They 
carried me to my stall. 

Then I noticed I was not in the dance hall. I found myself on a high mountain, 
one half of it white lava [sic]. It was a ridge running to the west. The lower 
half was green with grass, sprinkled with flowers. Looking the country over, I 
saw it was strange to me, country that I had never seen before. 

Even with me was a little stream, with tall weeds growing by it. It was a run- 
ning stream, with clear water. I knelt down to drink. I was going to drink. 
But, just as my mouth was nearing the water, something—inside of me?—-said, 
“Wait.” Again I bent down, and again it happened. The third time, just as my 
mouth touched the water, I looked up. 

It had been the Buffalo that spoke, the Buffalo of the center pole. It kind of 
circled around me. Then it turned into a human being. I looked at it, wonder- 
ing. Why was it staring at me? I knew then that it was the same man who had 
knocked me over. 

He took three or four steps toward me, then he stopped. He seemed afraid of 
me. He said to me, ‘The first drink you take: don’t hold it down. If you do, it 
will kill you. The next time the water will be purer. The first drink will be 
poisoned in your body. If you drink it, you won’t live long. 

“The second time it will bring up diseases and blood. The third time it will be 
pure water, with just a little blood init. The fourth time, drink all the water you 
want. That is why I stopped you.” He circled around me again, and left. 

I put my hands into the water—that far [Compton gestured to points halfway 
up to his elbows]. And I drank and drank. I was bioated worse than a toad 
when I got through finally. 

It was well along in the afternoon then, 3 o’clock or so. Isat down and looked 
around. Way out to the north-east, in a sort of desert, I saw a Sun Dance hall. 
It was 2 or 3 miles away, out on the flats. 


Noo ui}. ’ WIND RIVER SHOSHONE SUN DANCE—SHIMKIN 461 


It seemed as though I had been on a long journey from the west. It seemed 
as though I had been dry and thirsty, tired. I rested for an hour by the spring. 

When I got up, I was perfectly satisfied. And I got up. I noticed I took two 
or three steps. Then I knew nothing of the other steps until I was 15 or 20 feet 
away from the hall—I just seemed to float. 

Now I walked around the south side of the hall, to the door facing the east. I 
could see the people looking through the bushes of the walls, watching the dance. 
They did not see me. They were jammed together. I squeezed through and 
slipped to the front. 

I looked around and, in the north of the hall, I saw a vacant place. There was a 
nice shade there, where a body was lying, asleep. I made up my mind to go there 
and rest, and watch the dancers. I started, and walked right across the hall. I 
sat down right at the body’s feet. I looked at the dancers. Pretty soon, I began 
to lie down. It seemed as though I had begun to wake up. 

I didn’t know whether I had slept or not. Now I heard the drum and the singers, 
heard the old men urging the dancers on. I was puzzled. How had I first come 
in? I tried to figure out how it was: it seemed so true that I had gotten this 
drink. Right there I tried to figure it out. 

I finally thought: ‘‘I had started torun him out. He hit me.” I traced myself 
from there to the mountain, drinking. But I was as dry as before. I had seemed 
stuffed with water when I had left the spring. I seemed dry when I awoke. It 
seemed just like a dream. 

I pushed the cover off my head. Then the Dance chief and another fellow came 
over—somebody had told him I had awakened. He asked me, ‘‘Have you awak- 
ened? Have you seen anything? Have you had your drink?” 

“Yes,” I said, ‘but I am as dry as I was before.” 

“What did this to you?” 

“T don’t know. It was some kind of a spirit that knocked me out.” 

“From now on you won’t have to suffer,” they said. They asked me if I had 
seen anything more. I told them of the Spirit’s orders. 

They said, ‘‘In time you may get so that you may know something of the Dance. 
Some day you may handle it yourself.” 

After the leader asked me, he seemed to be glad that I had been helped. At 
that time I didn’t understand. It seemed that the leader was more pleased than I. 
He was Woodpecker (A’gaba), a medicine man. 

I didn’t realize the meaning of this. I didn’t care. I was young. I believed 
in the Sun Dance because I had been cured by it of heart disease. 

I just went on, got along the best I could until I married and started a family. 
Two or three years after the first vision the same spirit knocked me out again. 
It told me to go into another Sun Dance. Nothing happened that time, but I 
could see different things: spirits of the Sun Dance. Then I got a greater belief 
in the Sun Dance, began to study it over, took more notice of it. I got a good 
line-up on it and its meaning from the old-timers. I traced it back. It gave me 
more interest after I learned of Christ and His fast. I got some meaning from it. . . 

Up to now I have been in 18 Sun Dances. This will be my fourteenth, and the 
third one Ihave run. The others were in 1929 and 1932. 

I am not a medicine man or anything like that. But I began to have a strong 
belief in it. I began to think it over—and having this Spirit knock me over... 
It began to talk to me and to come to me at night. If any of my relatives was sick, 
the Spirit would come to me at night, tell me what to do, what kind of prayer to 
use for the sick person. 

From then on I began to believe in the Spirit. I got success on several occasions. 


462 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL, 151 


Since then, I have helped many sick people. I am not a doctor, I just use words 
and prayer, the name of God, and the Spirit of the Sun Dance. 

Since then, I have seen other spirits in the Sun Dance that came and gave orders, 
to which I paid no attention because my first Spirit was my main one. And it 
told me not to heed them. In the long run they would do more harm than good 
to me and those I tried to help. 

This one Spirit told me that the others are descendants of the Devil. In the 
long run they would kill you. Evil spirits exist as well as good ones, and they 
tempt you to do wrong. The main Spirit has kept me from following the others. 

Seeing spirits is not like a dream. They’ll come to you—you can talk to them 
during the night. You’ll be asleep but you’ll never forget what was told to you. 
In dreaming, you forget next morning what you have dreamt. When a spirit 
comes to you, you don’t forget nothing. And another thing in the spirit line: the 
spirit will direct you to the God above, and give you a certain way to call for help, 
to help the sick onearth. The spirit will tell you to do these things to help the sick. 

You read in the paper of an Indian doctor hollering and dancing. My part is 
not like that. My power in order to help people is a spiritual power. What help 
I get is from God Almighty. Whenever I call on Our Father, I see that the person 
I am helping gets relief. Not by dancing, nor by any medicine, but just by a few 
words I relieve them of their sickness, help them. I have been doing this for 12 
years. I have always been successful because I knew what to do before I went in. 

If I did not help the first time, the Spirit comes to me the next night. It tells 
me whether or not I can help the sick person. If not, there’s no use. Then it is 
his time to go; God has him already in his power. I'll go just so far. But if a 
more powerful spirit than mine has him, I would just not try. 

I don’t know if they’ll call me an Indian doctor, or what. I’m different from 
the others. They will use songs. All I use are the four prayer songs of the Sun 
Dance. I still use them. I use no medicine, I just use this power, the Spirit of 
the Sun Dance. It directs me to the Great Spirit above; through that I can help 
people on earth. 

When my Spirit first knocked me over, it was just a blur, though I saw a human 
form in the blur. After 2 or 3 years it became more clear; I could see it more. 
It began to give me ideas and ways to help the sick, and how to handle things in 
the spirit line. Then he came out clearly: he is a Spirit, not of God, but of the 
Sun Dance. Still, he may be in touch with the Great Spirit above. If not, I 
don’t think I could help people. Other spirits—whenever you see them, you can 
tell them: they are altogether different. They’ll come to you as an animal, an elk, 
a lion, a wolf, or a bear. They’ll keep changing from one to the other, drawing 
your attention. That’s not a helping spirit. The Devil is sending him to do 
wrong, harm the sick. I’ve always been glad I learned the main Spirit and got so 
I could protect myself from the others. 

Today, I don’t have to suffer in a Sun Dance. I can go for 7 days without 
eating or drinking. I have the Power behind me to do it. Green hands, the be- 
ginners, are the ones that need help. You’ve got to help them. They’ve got no 
Power of any kind; there’s no spirit behind them. 

A person with Power is there to help them. In order to help them you’ve got 
to call on the Spirit to relieve them. For 5 or 10 minutes after that the boys or 
men find relief; they then are as fresh as when they went in. But it won’t last; 
it will wear off, for they’ll go too fast and wear themselves out. They’ll suffer as 
much as before. Usually you’ve got to help them two or three times before the 
dance is over. Otherwise, they’ll suffer greatly. 

In the old days they used to go through this suffering until they were knocked 
out. Nowadays, it’s not that way unless a spirit comes and lays you out. No- 


No ui)’ ’)«WIND RIVER SHOSHONE SUN DANCE—SHIMKIN 463 


body urges you to keep on going until you fall. The old men used to urge the 
young to keep on going until they saw things. 

It’s [the Sun Dance] the same as a church, only it’s held once a year. It’s put 
on in the same form as any church. The songs are just tunes, but they mean the 
same. They’re from way back; they’ve never been changed. In the Sun Dance 
there is no worship of the Sun. It is through the Sun. 

Compton’s account is exceptionally detailed and vivid, particularly 
in regard to motor sensations. Itis almost poeticinitsimagery. Yet 
in a highly symbolic fashion, it clings rigidly to the tribal pattern. 
The ceremonial number four, the butting by a visionary power, the 
buffalo, its transformation into a person, and the sensation of drinking 
water are obviously stereotyped.” Even further, the scenery he de- 
scribes approaches that of the land of the dead if we note with Brackett 
that ... ‘“‘When an old man is dying he finds himself near the top of 
a high hill on the Wind River Mountains [which is the locale of Comp- 
ton’s description], and, as the breath leaves his body, he reaches the 
top of it, and there, in front of him, the whole magnificent landscape of 
eternity is spread out, and the Sun-Father is there to receive him and 
to do everything in his power to make him happy” (Brackett, 1880, 
p. 330). This also clears up Compton’s mysterious allusion to worship 
through the Sun, for we may note that ‘they believe in Tamapah 
(damé a’p:é, Our [incl. pl.] Father, or Sun-Father, who is the Father 
of the Day and Father of us all, and lives in the sun” (Brackett, 1880, 
p. 330; Russel, 1921, p. 144). 

Stylistically too, a few features are patterned in his account. An 
example is the directions given him by his Power. The initial nega- 
tive, the final antithetical positive are typical of the tribal literature 
(Shimkin, 1947 c). 

It is clear that Compton is an intelligent man, introspective and 
highly imaginative, who sensitively elaborates new permutations—like 
his “Spirit of the Sun Dance’’—of a rigid pattern. I believe he is 
unquestionably sincere, moved by drives, fantasies, and traditions 
largely outside his control. But a certain amount of sophistication 
and an inherently good sense of humor inhibit exaggerated mysticism. 

At the same time, his personality is not completely adjusted. Pos- 
sibly his relation toward his white father and certainly his difficulties 
in being accepted in a strange community, in fighting the established 
interests of the Peyotists, have contributed to this. In any case, the 
transparently hysterical character of his early illnesses, the ambi- 
valence of his dreams with their good and evil spirits, and his occasional 
drunkenness and cruelty aresymptomatic of emotional strain. Never- 
theless, Compton is one of the most gifted and sanest Wind River 


59 Compare the Crow Indians (Lowie, 1922, p. 324 ff.); in the typical Dakota vision, on the contrary, a 
person turnsintoananimal. (Cf. Wissler, 1916, p. 81.) 


464 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Buun. 151 


Shoshone I know. He is not inhibited to the point of dead pragma- 
tism. He does not alternate between jovial expansiveness and sharp 
suspicion. He is not a dreamer so preoccupied with his fantasies that 
all else is of little moment. 

Thus the leader of the Sun Dance in 1937 had an outstanding per- 
sonality, a type of personality the little-formalized, fluid character of 
Wind River society tends to place in positions of prominence. 


SOCIAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS 


In what ways have the changes in the culture of the Wind River 
Shoshone since the nomadic days of the midnineteenth century modi- 
fied the attitudes influencing the Sun Dance or altered the social and 
psychological functions of the ceremony? 

Shoshone attitudes appear largely to have remained constant. 
Egalitarianism is still strong. Individual restraint and psychological 
inhibition generally appear to have increased since the Shoshone have 
become more aware of their poverty and social isolation from their 
white neighbors.” On the other hand, schooling, the Episcopal and 
Catholic churches and the Peyote Cult seem to have reduced habits of 
extreme individualism, and to have increased receptivity toward a 
common religious dogma. It is noteworthy that many individualistic 
elements of old Shoshone culture, such as the vision quest, medicine 
bundle, personal tabus, and individual curing shamanism have van- 
ished or been greatly weakened since the turn of the century, while 
elements involving group participation have survived more success- 
fully. Thus, Wind River Shoshone world outlook, while basically 
unchanged, may have become less disinclined to formalism and stereo- 
typy than before. 

What is the relation between the Sun Dance and the social structure 
of the modern Wind River community? As in the old Sun Dance, 
formal ties are lacking, but actual informal correlations are signifi- 
cant. This problem is worth examination in detail, with reference 
to the dancers, leaders, Sun Dance committeemen, and old men and 
warriors, respectively. 

The dancers represent nearly every male group in the community; 
their principal difference from nonparticipants appears to be psycho- 
logical. Geographically, the distribution of the dancers is uniform, 
with only the marginal Burris and Ethete districts showing markedly 
low numbers of dancers (figs. 22 and 24). The degree of blood ad- 
mixture is but a little toward the full-blooded side of the mean of the 
community profile, with a mean of 0.75 Indian blood, a range of 0.25 
to 1.00. Economically, there is a corresponding picture. The mean 


60 Based upon 185 Rohrschach tests and other psychological data (cf. Shimkin, 1947 a and-n. d.). 


WIND RIVER SHOSHONE SUN DANCE—SHIMKIN 465 


ANTHROP. Pap. 
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466 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Buun, 151 


DISTRICT 


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is 1.9, a little below that of the reservation generally; the range, 
0.5 to 2.6 (cf. fig. 23). In short, the Sun Dancers represent all but the 
geographically most remote, most mixed-blooded, and wealthiest 
parts of the reservation. 

In contrast, age is a selective factor among the dancers. The 
mean age is 37 years, with a range from 16 to 80. The distribution, 
however, is very peculiar, consisting of a low plateau with two im- 
portant, nearly equal peaks in the ages of 17 to 25 and 50 to 58. 
Almost no men in their 30’s dance. 

Correlated with age is another mechanism, that of kinship. In 
all, in 1937 and 1938, four pairs of fathers and sons danced together, 
as well as six sets of brothers (two of them numbering three apiece), 
and one set of cross-cousins. The importance of kin ties in joming 
the dance—especially the father-son relationship—explains part of 
the peculiar age distribution. 

Sun Dancing is also correlated with participation in other socio- 
religious organizations. Out of 336 men above the age of 16, only 
167 belong to any organization whatsoever; 89 belong to 1, 57 to 2, 
17 to 3, and 5 to 4. The extreme limit of duplicating participation 
is illustrated by a 46-year-old man who belongs to five groups at once. 


No di)” =WIND RIVER SHOSHONE SUN DANCE—SHIMKIN 467 


NUMBER OF 
HOUSEHOLDS 


PE YOTISTS 


t|SUN DANCERS 
KL 937-38 * 
S 


Wotan 3.000 


REDE. TITION WITHIN HOUSEHOLD COUNTED OMY WHEN IN DIFFERENT YEAR 


PERCENT OF HOUSEHOLOS 


Figure 24.—Local differences on the Wind River Reservation. 


In short, there appears to be a central participating core opposed to 
the major nonparticipating division of the community. 

Examining this core in detail, we see that the Episcopal Church, 
the Peyote Cult, the Wolf Dance, and the Tribal Council form a solid 
block. (See fig. 25.) The Sun Dance has a rather peculiar 
position, which is more apparent than real, inasmuch as the Tribal 
Council is represented on the Sun Dance committee rather than 
among the dancers themselves. The Catholics, on the other hand, 
are dissociated from all other groups except the Tribal Council. The 
completely negative correlations between the Ghost Dance and 
Peyote Cult, and the Ghost Dance and Catholicism are functionally 
real, not merely statistical. 

Multiple participation exists despite a paucity of obvious functional 
ties between different ceremonies. Asan explanation, there is only the 
historical fact that a small group of men originally experimented with 
all these, and integrated them slightly. This would lead one to suspect 
that some sort of attachment to these leaders has been the genuine uni- 
fying factor. Yet such attachment can hold only for a few families, 
among whom heredity, particularly patrilineal, has maintained 
participation in the same cults. For other families, whose affilia- 
tions have varied greatly over late generations, the problem is much 
more difficult. In fact, the existence of any personal ties, social or 
friendly, seems to be of little weight in most instances. 


468 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Buu 151 


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Figure 25.—Correlations (Yule Q2) between institutions. 


For example, the Sun Dance in 1937 was run by an individualistic 
shaman, while the Sun Dance committee was composed of people 
with various affiliations, led by an Episcopalian who had retired from 
active membership in the Peyote Cult. In 1938, two Peyotists led 
the dance, while the committee was entirely Peyotist. Only 9 persons 
out of a total of 84 danced in both years. Yet the profile of participa- 
tion remained perfectly constant, with the Peyotists actually dropping 
a little in percentage the second year. 


TaBLeE 2.—Percentage of Sun Dancers ! 


Episcopal- : Wolf Tribal Ghost : 
Date ians Peyotists Dancers | Councilors| Dancers Catholic 
ni) O8Y 422 rere aaa Be eee 48 39 17 10 10 5 
aad RS RS Se SE te es 52 35 18 6 6 3 


1 The sum is greater than 100 percent because of duplicate participation; only Wind River Shoshone have 
been included in the percentages. 


It appears most likely, therefore, that participation in rites at the 
present time is generally a matter of individual preference and indi- 
vidual psychology rather than one of definite social compulsion. The 
ties are emotional rather than legal or customary. 

Analysis of the Rohrschach tests of a small but carefully matched 
series of Sun Dancers and nonparticipants permits tentative definition 
of the psychological differences between them. (See Appendix 3.) 
The former manifest considerably higher energy levels than the latter. 
Emotionally, they appear more sensual and sensitive, but basically no 


No aun Par. WIND RIVER SHOSHONE SUN DANCE—SHIMKIN 469 


more extroverted. Greater mental rigidity, with almost no inner life 
and little originality, but less negativism and concern with minutiae 
than among the nonparticipants, are other characteristics. 

The Sun Dance leaders represent the width and breadth of the com- 
munity to a lesser degree than the ordinary dancers. Data on five 
leaders active from 1936 to 1938 show a wide range in home locality, 
degree of blood admixture (half to full-blood), and extent of social 
participation (two were Sun Dancers only; three, Episcopalians also, 
of whom two were Peyotists in addition. One man participated in 
these three organizations and the Wolf Dance as well.) None were 
members of the Tribal Council. All were poor, older men, from 50 to 
77 years of age, who had danced from 10 to 15 times previously. 

Constant participation has not, however, been enough to warrant 
leadership, which most dancers never achieve. The critical factor 
appears to be acknowledged supernatural power. For instance, 
Natopo White or Little White Horse had control over ightning. When 
his wife ran away with another to Utah, he caused the lightning to 
strike and kill the latter. He also had control over the weather. Poh- 
euritsie Taylor is reported to be a dangerous shaman who once exhib- 
ited his Power by stealing away Pivo Brown’s. 

Does this recognition of special power imply a difference of person- 
ality between the leaders and ordinary dancers? I believe it does, 
although this conclusion is impressionistic. Such men as Tom Comp- 
ton and Tom Wesaw share elements of ambivalence and of marked 
cyclicity in adaptive behavior, in overt personality, with the ordinary 
dancers. On the other hand, they appear to be much more intelligent, 
imaginative, and expressive than their followers. In these regards 
the leaders may be closer to the norms of the nonparticipants than 
to the other dancers. 

In contrast to the dancers and Sun Dance leaders, the Committee 
members show definite social rather than psychological selection. 
Data are available on nine members of 1937 and 1938, of whom 
three were participants both years. Excluding one 77-year-old man, 
the mean age of the Committee members in 1938 was 35, with a range 
of 25 to 44. (This distribution fits the gap in the Sun Dancers’ age 
curve, and provides an explanation additional to kinship for its pecu- 
liarities.) Blood admixture among the Committee members is low, 
with a mean of 0.83 Indian blood and a range of 1.00 to 0.37; in con- 
trast, their economic status is high, with a mean of 2.3 and a range of 
1.6 to 2.9. They are active participants in socioreligious organiza- 
tions, belonging to an average of 2.5 each. While all but one are 
Peyotists and four are members of the Tribal Council, no Ghost Danc- 
ers or Catholics are represented, and only one has been a Sun Dancer. 


470 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLy. 151 


Geographically, the selection is also marked, since six come from 
Trout Creek and two from South Fork, while North Fork, Sage 
Creek, and Burris are completely unrepresented. 

Evidently, the Sun Dance Committee is the instrument through 
which the effective social leadership of the Wind River Shoshone 
maintains its control over the Sun Dance. 

The old warriors and other persons who act as heralds, or who light 
the fire in the Sun Dance lodge, bless the water at the end of the cere- 
mony, or bless the dancers, comprise a heterogeneous group. Some 
have had genuine war records; Quitan Quay, for example. Others 
such as Tassitsie and Charley Washakie have also played a major role 
in the creation of modern Shoshone ceremonialism. Still others, such 
as Marshall Washakie, the president of the Peyotists, have current 
claims to prominence. And some, finally, are visitors such as Ben 
Buffalo, a Cheyenne who blessed Tom Wesaw at the conclusion of the 
1938 Sun Dance. The only common denominators appear to be mid- 
dle or old age and some basis of public or personal esteem. 

In summary, the modern Sun Dance is fully representative of all 
the Wind River Shoshone—more so, probably, than was the old Sun 
Dance. In addition, it is closely tied in to the social leadership of the 
community by means of the Sun Dance Committee. Finally, the 
Sun Dance today acts as an agency of cohesion not only for the Wind 
River Shoshone, but also for neighboring tribes. In 1936, out of 46 
dancers, 6 were Arapahoes and 3 were Utes; in 1937, out of 38 dancers, 
4 Idaho Shoshone; 2 Bannock; 1 Shoshone from Washakie, Utah; 3 
Wyoming Arapaho; and 1 Oklahoma Arapaho participated. In 1938, 
the 46 dancers included 1 Crow and 1 Ute. Comparably, the Wind 
River Shoshone today participate in Idaho Shoshone, Ute, and Crow 
Sun Dances. 

The aggregate social and psychological functions of the Sun Dance 
have increased greatly, although the importance of some has declined. 
The geographical unity of the modern Wind River Shoshone has re- 
duced the importance of any physical gathering in promoting cohesion. 
Gossip, trade, and social gatherings are no longer coterminous with the 
tribal assembly for the Sun Dance, the rendezvous with the trappers, 
and the summer buffalo hunt. The roles of women and children are 
even less significant than in the old Sun Dance. Anxiety about war 
is no longer a factor, although war-centered traits have an important 
sentimental role. (This is written from the standpoint of 1937-88. 
It is clear that World War II and the postwar period reawakened war 
anxieties and revived such features as war prophecies.) Friendship 
has retained much of its ceremonial flavor, with blood-brothers ex- 
changing gifts, for example. Practically, however, its significance in 
quarrels and war has declined, although the marital functions remain. 


NO ait PAP. WIND RIVER SHOSHONE SUN DANCE—SHIMKIN 471 


Finally, the ceremonial and religious life of the Shoshone has become 
richer with the introduction of the Episcopal and Catholic churches, 
the Peyote Cult, and the Wolf Dance; social foci competing with the 
Sun Dance appear to have been created. The Fourth of July Parade 
at Lander is another new disruptive element. 

In other ways, the functions of the Sun Dance have increased. Il- 
ness has become the most important theme of the ceremony, one which 
is reiterated in all prayers. Although relief from illness is emphasized 
in other Shoshone institutions, such as the Peyote Cult, Ghost Dance, 
and Wolf Dance, to say nothing of the Agency hospital and field nurse, 
it has become the most frequently cited reason, in recent years, for 
participating in the Sun Dance. Thus Tom Compton first joined the 
Sun Dance hoping to recover from an injury received in football. 
Tom Wesaw, in addition to his other reasons, was prompted to lead 
in 1938 because he had previously been suffering from trachoma and 
in poor health generally. Lowie cites Pivo Brown’s causes for entry: 

I was bloated up and had no appetite. I went into the sun dance. My fellow- 
dancers pressed down on my stomach and I felt as if I were to have a movement 
of my bowels. My excrements looked bloody and I was terrified, but I felt well 
thereafter and think the fasting burns out the disease. [Lowie, 1919, p. 399.] 

Visionary power is still prized among the Shoshone, and the Sun 
- Dance today is the principal mechanism for its achievement. The 
vision quest is no longer followed, although supernatural bequests 
may still come in ordinary dreams, as did Logan Brown’s new Sun 
Dance song. The Peyotists do not use their drug for the gaining of 
visions, but merely to achieve a feeling of deep tranquillity and unity 
with God. 

Participation in the Sun Dance, as leader, dancer, Committeeman 
or herald, is one of the few avenues to prestige open in the community 
today. (Other positions of honor are those of tribal councilor, 
Indian judge, president of the Peyotists, principal Ghost Dancer, 
and Wolf Dance leader.) Tribal and band chieftainship, war honors, 
and foppery have vanished. Economic success is extremely difficult 
to achieve; furthermore, the continuation of customs such as the 
abandonment of houses in which an adult has died tend to break down 
property accumulation. 

Finally, new values have entered the Sun Dance. Concern for 
food is now expressed in the dance. Emphasis upon the welfare of 
the entire community including the allaying of internal suspicion and 
hostilities has also become manifest, as has an increasing feeling of 
the unity of all Indians. The monetary proceeds of the ceremony 
are other new incentives. In 1937-38, the average breadwinner of a 
family of five to seven souls earned but $300 a year, between his 

909871—52——31 


472 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuULL. 151 


farming, stock raising, WPA, and odd jobs. Under such circum- 
stances, honorable and easy positions paying $2 or $2.50 a day were 
lucrative prizes indeed. 

An assessment of the social and psychological functions of the 
modern Sun Dance shows that its integration with the social structure 
and the value system expressed by it have increased greatly. At 
the same time disruptive elements have increased. Definite jealousy 
exists between Sun Dance leaders; the pay devolving upon Sun Dance 
Committeemen is a source of envy. But these are minor tensions. 
The Christianized, deeply modified Sun Dance of today is a vital 
cultural force, an active part of the social and emotional life of the 
Wind River Shoshone and their neighbors. 


CONCLUSIONS 


Historical conclusions.—(1) The Sun Dance complex developed 
among the Algonquian Plains tribes, possibly after 1700, and diffused 
rapidly through the Plains and into the Plateau. Its early form can 
be reconstructed through comparison of the peripheral, widely sepa- 
rated Kiowa and Kutenai Sun Dances. Later modifications (partic- 
ularly by the Algonquians and Dakota), secondary diffusions, and 
tribal migrations make detailed tracing of the subsequent history of 
the ceremony extremely difficult. 

(2) The Wind River Shoshone may have been influenced by the 
initial wave of diffusion of the Sun Dance complex, but it appears 
almost certain that the major factor in the introduction of the Sun 
Dance was a Comanche, Ohamagwaya Yellow Hand, who subse- 
quently became a major Shoshone chief. Historical and comparative 
evidence indicates that he borrowed the ritual from the Kiowa and 
transmitted it to the Shoshone about 1800. 

(3) Between 1800 and 1880, the Wind River Shoshone received 
elaborating Sun Dance elements from the Arapaho and the Crow or 
Blackfoot, although the ceremony remained fundamentally stable. 

(4) Between 1880 and 1905, approximately, the Wind River 
Shoshone Sun Dance went through a period of profound change, 
probably induced by the insecurity of early reservation life, and 
guided by a small number of active cultural leaders. Christian 
elements were deeply integrated into the rite at that time. 

(5) This new form of the Sun Dance spread rapidly into the Basin, 
being adopted by the Bannock and Ute about 1890, and the 
Hekandika Shoshone about 1906. Wind River Shoshone proselyting 
was an element in the diffusion. 

(6) After 1905, and certainly by 1920, the new form of the Sun 
Dance crystallized among the Wind River Shoshone, and they resisted 
a number of attempted modifications. Nevertheless, the expansive 


No fi) )°” =WIND RIVER SHOSHONE SUN DANCE—SHIMKIN 473 


vigor of the ceremony has remained; in 1933 it diffused to the Nevada 
Shoshone, and in 1941 it diffused to the Crow, among whom it had 
previously died out. 

(7) Further diffusion of the Sun Dance among the Plains tribes is 
likely, particularly in view of the psychological stimulus of World War 
II. The mechanism of intertribal participation in Sun Dances would 
promote such diffusion. 

Sociological and psychological conclusions.—(1) Probably, the intro- 
duction of the Sun Dance about 1800 and, certainly, its modification 
in 1880-1905, were associated with periods of intense cultural crisis. 
Introduction and modification alike seem also to have been achieved 
by a few strong personalities among the Wind River Shoshone. 

(2) The dominant Shoshone attitudes of egalitarianism, individual- 
ism, skepticism, and restraint may have been partly instrumental in 
inhibiting the early development of the Sun Dance. They provide 
explanations for the rejection of such features as formal hereditary 
control of the Sun Dance secret rites, and a priesthood, a Sun Dancers’ 
fraternity, and self-torture. Physical consolidation on the reservation 
and the effects of White schooling, Christianity, and the Peyote Cult 
appear to have reduced Shoshone individualism and promoted accept- 
ance of a common theory of the Sun Dance, as well as larger-scale and 
more-representative participation than formerly. Egalitarianism and 
individualism are still strong enough, however, to build up resentment 
against minority control of the Sun Dance, to lead to marked jealousy 
between Sun Dance leaders, and to result in appreciable variations in 
Sun Dance performances and interpretations. 

(3) The early Sun Dance was but loosely integrated with the social 
and psychological values of the tribes, although it had important func- 
tions in relation to individual prestige, war, the acquisition and exhi- 
bition of supernatural power, and as a general social focus. Actually, 
the Father Dance was more important than the Sun Dance in pro- 
moting general welfare and as a crisis ritual. Furthermore, dreams, 
individual quests, and transfers were more common means of 
gaining supernatural power than the Sun Dance. The number of 
dancers was small. Finally, although coup counting took place in 
many phases of the Sun Dance, neither band chiefs nor the military 
societies had any role in the ceremony. 

This loose integration with social and psychological values may have 
reinforced dominant Shoshone attitudes in inhibiting the elaboration 
of the Sun Dance. But it also appears probable that, with the advent 
of a major cultural crisis, the Sun Dance was sufficiently dissociated 
from deprived or rejected values to be a ready instrument for cultural 
reintegration. 

(4) In contrast to the loose integration of the early ceremony, the 


474 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLy. 151 


modern Sun Dance is the decisive binding element of present-day 
Wind River Shoshone. It expresses the major concerns of the com- 
munity: cohesion, illness, food, and acquisition of supernatural power. 
It achieves a satisfying balance between defiant, sentimental nativism 
and dominant, white Christianity. All elements of the community, 
even those mutually hostile, participate in it. About a third of all 
the men above 16 have danced in a span of but 2 years; the others, 
the nondancers, apparently refrain from individual reasons based on 
psychological differences, rather than organized withdrawal. Mem- 
bers of other tribes dance or sing regularly in the Wind River Shoshone 
Sun Dance. 

Consequently, the Sun Dance today is a vital emotional and cultural 
force affecting not only the Shoshone but also their neighbors. Ele- 
ments of disintegration do exist within the ceremony: rivalries be- 
tween religious leaders, jealousy of the Sun Dance Committee, and 
the threat of commercialization. Yet these appear minor, and it 
appears virtually certain that the Sun Dance will retain its vitality 
and exercise profound influence on Shoshone life for some time to come. 

Further problems.—Analysis of the Wind River Shoshone Sun Dance 
has led to a number of conclusions concerning the cultural dynamics 
of that specific group and that institution. How representative in 
space, in time, in aspect of culture are these conclusions? 

(1) How rapidly can major cultural changes (not mere disintegra- 
tions) take place, and under what conditions? 

(2) To what extent can a single individual or a few dominate the 
introduction or modification of institutions? 

(3) Is a condition of crisis necessary for major changes in institu- 
tions deeply charged with emotion, such as religion? 

(4) How consistently and to what degree do the dominant attitudes 
of a group affect the growth of its culture? 

(5) How stable are such dominant attitudes or patterns of culture? 

(6) How does the degree of functional integration between an 
institution and the value systems of a society affect the survival, 
stability, or potential florescence of that institution in times of crisis? 

To my knowledge, answers to these questions, answers based on the 
thorough documentation and full analysis of several discrete in- 


stances, do not yet exist. 
APPENDIX 1 


MANUSCRIPT NOTES ON THE WIND RIVER SHOSHONE SUN DANCE (1902) 
BY H. H. ST. CLAIR 


The manuscript field notes made in 1902 by H. H. St. Clair ™ contain 
a succinct account of the older form of the Shoshone Sun Dance which 


61 Notebook IV, mss. 892, Bureau of American Ethnology, Washington, D.C., used by permission of Dr. 
M. W. Stirling, Director of the Bureau. 


No diy. «WIND RIVER SHOSHONE SUN DANCE—SHIMKIN 475 


mentions a number of features unnoticed either by Lowie or myself. 
Below I quote him verbatim. I have italicized the most significant 
passages. 


Some medicine man has a dream that he has led a Sun Dance, and tells the peo- 
ple when it shall take place. He then composes songs which he teaches to the people 
during the four days preceding the dance. On the fourth day he leads the people in- 
to the mountains and they have a sham-battle, the trees representing the enemy, 
at which they shoot. Then the men pick out the straightest of the trees that were hit 
and the women chop them down, and the men load them up. Then they split up 
into two parties, the Sun-dance leader going with the trees. The wagon goes 
ahead and the other party drops back, and they have a sham-battle over the poles 
till they reach the camp. Then the sham-battle is turned into a parade around the camp. 
They then all procure willow branches with leaves to shade the Sun-dance lodge. 
Holes are dug and poles set up. The centre pole is forked; while raising it, they 
pray and sing. 

Two lodge-poles are connected at the tops with a rope, and each pole is held by 
one man... [unclear]... at the end of a song, raise the pole up. This is done 
four times; the fifth time they raise the pole as high as they can, and the two with 
the lodge poles run under it, catch it, raise it up, and set it solid. All the outside 
posts are also forked. Long ridge-poles are placed from outside posts [toward the] 
centre-pole. A buffalo-head painted with white clay and decorated with eagle-tail- 
feathers is handed up to a man who goes up the centre pole. This head he puts up 
on the fork of the pole. The small brush that has been collected is placed against 
two rails (one at the centre of the outside posts and one at the top.) The lodge is 
then complete. By this time it is usually dark and the dancers begin to eat and 
drink, fill... [unclear]... the four days’ fast. All paint up with white clay, hair 
as well as body. The buffalo-robes put on are also painted white. Their whistles 
are hung on a string around the neck. All then gather in one place outside the 
medicine man’s lodge. The singers and drummers are ordered to be ready. They 
all start out in single file from the medicine-man’s lodge, with the medicine-man 
in the lead, and go around the Sun-dance hall four times in single file to the right. 
After entering, the medicine man leads them with a praying song during which they 
are seated. At the end of the song they blow their whistles four times. Then the 
medicine man, taking his place in the centre of the hall, prays for them all to the 
Great Father. All shake their blankets then, to shake away their sickness. The 
drummers come in and the dance begins. Dancing continues till midnight, when 
they pick out one of the men outside who has been in some fight to go and get wood 
with which to build a fire. The fire built, he tells of his brave deeds in past fights. 
Then the dance continues till morning. The singers take turns. The dancers 
dance up to the pole and back. 

In the morning at peep of dawn they sing a certain song and the dancers form 
in one line, sometimes two, across the hall and all raise their hands to the sun, all 
the time hopping up and down in one place till the sun is up. Then the medicine 
man prays to the Sun. That is the end of the first night. The singers then go 
home for about an hour to get breakfast, and while they are gone, the dancers 
change paint. They paint yellow all over and leave their robes white. The 
singers are then notified and the dance begins again, lasting allday. The leader’s 
place is right opposite the entrance. In the night the fire is placed inside the door 
again. ‘They pray again the second morning, and while the singers are at break- 
fast, the dancers paint with various colors whatever may be their medicine, bear, 
ete., generally on the center of the breast. 


476 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Butn. 151 


10. 


11. 


12. 


13. 


14. 


15. 


16. 


ge 


18. 


19: 


APPENDIX 2 
PRINCIPAL INFORMANTS 


. BP, Ben Perry, b. ’92, good on modern religious practices. 
. CW, Charles Washakie, b. ’73, highly intelligent, important social innovator, 


well-informed; not much used. Speaks little English. 


. DW, Dick Washakie, b. ca. ’59, intelligent, good on material culture, poor on 


religion, mythology; out of contact with his people. Speaks little 
English. 

EA, Emma Aragon, b. ca. ’69, representing Fort Bridger—Ghost Dance 
adherents; opinionated, valuable for gossip; irregular but authentic 
information. Good interpreter. 

GD, Gilbert Day, b. ’09, valuable Peyote and contemporary informant. 


. GR, Guy Robertson, b. ’75, fair biographical and general informant, good for 


linguistics. Conscientious but not brilliant. Good interpreter. 


. JM, John McAdams, b. ca. ’72, very good general informant, volunteering 


much, but sometimes in error: must be checked by others. Has been 
to New Mexico. 


. JQ, Jack Quin or George Guina, b. ’00, excellent mythological informant, 


knows old culture (non-Plains) better than any other young man, some- 
what impatient; not sufficiently used, as wife was poor interpreter. 
Speaks no English. 


. LB, Logan Brown, b. ’98, illuminating on “noncrystallized” aspects of culture, 


Peyote, etc. Fair interpreter. 

LS, Lynn St. Clair, b. ’03, earnest student of his own people, has both the 
handicaps and virtues of self-education; helps all he can, very pleasant, 
fairly well informed. Excellent interpreter, but usually not available. 

MT, (Moses) Tassitsie, b. ca. ’52, extremely well informed, historically im- 
portant himself, influential. Must be treated gently and considerately, 
as is very proud. My best informant. Speaks no English. 

MW, Marshal Washakie, b. ’87, knows a good deal about his culture, very 
much about Peyote, but is highly erratic, alternately confiding and 
close-mouthed, suspicious. Can be magnificent, intelligent inter- 
preter, but is very unreliable in arranging work, etc. 

PB, Pivo Brown, b. ca. ’50 (deceased). Excellent narrator of mythology, 
interesting life history, well informed. Spoke no English. 

PP, Pandora Pogue, b. ca ’55, pretty well informed, was midwife, very good 
on household and material culture. Not very intelligent and must be 
forced along a little. Speaks no English. 

PS, Polly Shoyo, b. ca ’45 (deceased). Excellent informant, great knowledge 
of culture, sensitive, detailed, accurate. Very close to Tassitsie in 
quality. Was among Crow. Spoke no English. 

PT, Pohguritsie Taylor, b. ca. ’60, a Doya or Mountain Shoshone, well 
informed about them, and about shamanism; not very willing, must 
constantly be urged on. Speaks no English. 

QQ, Quitan Quay, b. ca. ’61, good knowledge of culture, but overshadowed 
by MT, PB. Born near Lemhi. Speaks little English. 

TC, Tom Compton, b. ca. ’85, excellent on shamanism, used for little else, 
but probably knows much more. Friendly. 

TW, Tom Wesaw, b. ’86, intelligent, well-informed man, not always in good 
health. Taciturn at first, improves greatly on acquaintance, but always 
a little suspicious. Good interpreter. 


ANTHROE- PAP. WIND RIVER SHOSHONE SUN DANCE—SHIMKIN 477 


APPENDIX 3 
ROHRSCHACH TEST DATA ON SUN DANCERS AND NONPARTICIPANTS 


In 1938, a series of 185 Rohrschach tests was taken by me among 
the Wind River Shoshone. Detailed discussion of the results of 
these and associated tests is beyond the scope of this paper (Shimkin, 
1947 a and n.d.). Nevertheless, certain points must be developed 
in order to clarify the selection of the individuals, the scoring, and 
the interpretation. 

The samples of Sun Dancers and cf men who were almost com- 
pletely nonparticipants were chosen as careful matches to eliminate 
the effects of differing ages, economic statuses, and degrees of blood 
admixture. Since these variables have in effect been partialled out 
by this method, the residue of consistent differences between the two 
groups represents ‘‘individual” differences, i.e., those which cannot 
be ascribed to immediate environmental conditions but derive in all 
likelihood from differences in early development or heredity. 

The fundamental basis of the scoring and interpretation of these 
tests is Bruno Klopfer’s modification of the original Rohrschach test, 
as described by Klopfer and his associates in various issues of the 
Rohrschach Research Exchange. The peculiarities of Wind River 
Shoshone norms have required me to deviate in a few regards: 


(1) Popular responses are based upon frequency analyses of Sho- 
shone responses. The following have been grouped out as “P.” 


Frequency Response Plate Location 
Percent 
65. 3 A V W. 
24.8 A obj (hide, etc.) VI W (cut off). 
75. 8 A Vill D (lateral red details). 
26. 8 Ad xX D (bottom green detail). 


(2) I would give the following interpretations to the total number of 
responses (R) among the Shoshone: 


bess: than 20.R_- 2052.2 Mental inactivity (psychic or organic inhibi- 
tion). 

LO toy2p Ree SS fae e Normal mental activity. 

2G Ot de Se ee Mental exuberance (a sign of intelligence, 
a “‘manic’”’ temperament, or slight persev- 
eration). 

UL oped (0) i Ree Se Se Perseveration (compulsive tendencies). 

100 Rand overs. 2-222-= Severe perseveration (suspicion of compul- 


sive neurosis). 


(3) I believe that average reaction time for each response (T/R) is 
primarily a function of the physical energy and activeness of the indi- 


478 ’ BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bub. 151 


vidual, significant at all levels. This would be my estimate of the 
meaning of the factor among the Wind River Shoshone: 
Less than 0.5 minute._ Excessive energy, restlessness, ““manic’’ tenden- 
cles. 
0.6 to 0.9 minute___-_- High energy level. 
1.0 to 1.3 minutes____ Normal energy level. 
1.4 to 2.6 minutes____ Low energy level—slight physiological or psycho- 
logical inhibition. 
2.7 minutes and over--_ Minimal energy level—severe physiological or 
psychological inhibition. 

The bases for the interpretation of general differences between the 
Sun Dancers and nonparticipants given in the section on the Modern 
Sun Dance under the heading “Social and Psychological Factors” 
(pp. 468-469), are appreciable differences between their means in the 
following factors: 


T/R (energy levels) ; 


FM+m VIII, IX, XRG Laan AG sit Peer : 
Fete? ay paper a (extroversion/introversion indications); 


O/R (originalty) ; 


Dd+S (particularism and negativism). 


’ Fe, C; 


479 


WIND RIVER SHOSHONE SUN DANCE—SHIMKIN 


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BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Brackett, A. G. 
1880. The Shoshones or Snake Indians, their religion, superstitions and 
manners. Ann. Rep. Smithsonian Inst. for 1879, pp. 328-333. 
CHAMBERLIN, R. V. 
1911. Ethnobotany of the Gosiute Indians of Utah. Mem. Amer. Anthrop. 
Assoc., vol. 2, pp. 329-404. 
CuHReETIEN, C. D. 
1945. Culture element distributions: XXV. Reliability of statistical pro- 
cedures and results. Univ. Calif. Anthrop. Records, vol. 8, pp. 
469-490. 
Cruark, W. P. 
1885. The Indian sign language. Philadelphia. 
CLEMENTs, F. 
1931. Plains Indian tribal correlations with Sun Dance data. Amer. 
Anthrop., vol. 33, pp. 216-227. 
CoMMiSSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. 
1885-1886. Reports for 1884 and 1885. 
Cougs, E., Eprror. 
1895. The expeditions of Z. M. Pike. New York. 
1898. The journal of Jacob Fowler (1821-22). New York. 
DE Smet, P. J. 
1906. Letters and sketches. Jn R. G. Thwaites, Early Western Travels 
1748-1846, vol. 27, pp. 129-411. Cleveland. 
DorsEY, GEORGE. 
1903. The Arapaho Sun Dance. Field Columbian Mus. Anthrop. Ser., 
vol. 4. Chicago. 
1905. The Cheyenne, Part II. Field Columbian Mus. Anthrop. Ser., vol. 
9, pt. 2. Chicago. 
Driver, H. E., and Krorsmr, A. L. 
1932. Quantitative expression of cultural relationships. Univ. Calif. Publ. 
Amer. Archeol. Ethnol., vol. 31, pp. 211-256. 
DruckeEr, PHILIP. 
1940. Kwakiutl dancing societies. Univ. Calif. Anthrop. Records, vol. 2, 
pp. 201-230. 
FarnuHam, T. J. 
1906. Travels in the Great Western Prairies, etc., pt. 1, May 21—October 
16, 1839. In R. G. Thwaites, Early Western Travels 1748-1846, 
vol. 28. Cleveland. 
Girrorp, E. W., and Lowr, R. H. 
1928. Notes on the Akwa’ala Indians of Lower California. Univ. Calif. 
Publ. Amer. Archeol. Ethnol., vol. 23, pp. 339-352. 
HEBARD, F. R. 
1930. Washakie. Cleveland. 
1933. Sacajawea. Glendale, Calif. 


Hoerset, FE. A. 
1935. The Sun Dance of the Hekandika Shoshone. Amer. Anthrop., vol. 37, 
pp. 570-581. 


1940. The political organization and law ways of the Comanche Indians. 
Mem. Amer. Anthrop. Assoc., vol. 54. 
Hont, G. 
1934. The annual Sun-Dance of the Kiowa Indians. Chronicles of Okla- 
homa, vol. 12, pp. 340-358. Norman, Okla. 


482 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLy. 151 


Irvine, W. 
1848. The adventures of Captain Bonneville. New York. 
Kroeber, A. L. 
1902-1904. The Arapaho. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., Bull. 18, pp. 1-454. 
1939. Cultural and natural areas of native North America. Univ. Calif. 
Publ. Amer. Arch. Ethnol., vol. 38. 
1940. Psychosis or social sanction. Character and personality, vol. 8, pp. 
204-215. Durham, N. C. 
La Barre, WESTON. 
1938. The Peyote cult. Yale Univ. Publ. Anthrop., No. 19. New Haven. 
Le Sieur, T. B. 
1911. The Shoshone Sun Dance. The Red Man, vol. 4, pp. 107—110, pl. p. 
116. U.S. Indian School, Carlisle, Pa. 
Linton, Raupu. 
1935. The Comanche Sun Dance. Amer. Anthrop., vol. 37, pp. 420-428. 
Logs, E. M. 
1933. The Eastern Kuksu cult. Univ. Calif. Publ. Amer. Archeol. Ethnol., 
vol. 33, pp. 189-232. 
Lowi8, Rospert H. 
1913. Societies of the Hidatsa and Mandan Indians. Anthrop. Pap. Amer. 
Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 11, pp. 219-358. 
1915 a. The Sun Dance of the Crow Indians. Anthrop. Pap. Amer. Mus. 
Nat. Hist., vol. 16, pp. 1-50. 
1915 b. Dances and societies of the Plains Shoshone. Anthrop. Pap. Amer. 
Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 11, pp. 803-835. 
1919. The Sun Dance of the Wind River Shoshone and Ute. Anthrop. Pap. 
Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 16, pp. 387-410. 
1922. The religion of the Crow Indians. Anthrop. Pap. Amer. Mus. Nat. 
Hist., vol. 25, pp. 313-444. 
1924. Primitive religion. New York. 
1935. The Crow Indians. New York. 
MANDELBAUM, D. G. 
1940. The Plains Cree. Anthrop. Pap. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 37, 
pp. 157-316. 
Marriott, A. 
1945. The Ten Grandmothers. Norman, Okla. 
MEKEEL, H. S. 
1936. The economy of a modern Teton Dakota community. Yale Univ, 
Publ. Anthrop. No. 6. New Haven. 
Mooney, JAMES. 
1896. The Ghost-Dance religion and the Sioux outbreak of 1890. 14th 
Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethnol., 1892-93, pt. 2. 
1898. Calendar history of the Kiowa Indians. 17th Ann, Rep. Bur. 
Amer. Ethnol., 1895-96, pt. 1, pp. 129-445. 
OLDEN, S. E. 
1923. Shoshone folk lore. Milwaukee, Wis. 
Optser, M. K. 
1941, The integration of the Sun Dance in Ute religion. Amer. Anthrop., 
vol. 43, pp. 550-572. 
Parrtig, J. O. 
1906. Personal narrative. Jn R. G. Thwaites, Early Western Travels 1748- 
1846, vol. 18. Cleveland. 


NO ui} Y)6WIND RIVER SHOSHONE SUN DANCE—SHIMKIN 483 


hay VE. 
1939. Cultural relations in the plateau of Northwestern America. Publ. 
Hodge Anniv. Publ. Fund, vol. 8. Los Angeles. 
Rouurns, P. A. 
1935. The discovery of the Oregon Trail, Robert Stuart’s narratives . . 
1812-13. New York. 
Ross, ALEXANDER. 
1855. The fur hunters of the Far West. 2 vols. London. 
RusseEu, O. 
1921. Journal of a trapper, or nine years in the Rocky Mountains, 1834-43. 
Boise, Idaho. 
Scort, H. L. 
1911. Notes on the Kado or Sun Dance of the Kiowa. Amer. Anthrop., 
vol. 13, pp. 345-379. 
SECRETARY OF War. 
1879. Report . . . for the third session of the Forty-fifth Congress, 1878-79. 
Suimxin, D. B. 
1938. Wind River Shoshone geography. Amer. Anthrop., vol. 40, pp. 
413-415. 
1941. Shoshone-Comanche origins and migrations. Proc. Sixth Pacific 
Sci. Congr., vol. 4, pp. 17-25. Berkeley. 
1942. Dynamics of recent Wind River Shoshone history. Amer. Anthrop., 
vol. 44, pp. 451-462. 
1947 a. Wind River Shoshone literary forms. Journ. Washington Acad. 
Sci., vol. 37, No. 10, pp. 829-352. 
1947 b. Wind River Shoshone ethno-geography. Univ. Calif. Anthrop. 
Records, vol. 5, No. 4. 
1947 c. Childhood and development among the Wind River Shoshone. 
Univ. Calif. Anthrop. Records, vol. 5, No. 5. 
1949 a. Shoshone I: Linguistic sketch and text. Int. 8. Amer. Ling., vol. 
15, pp. 175-188. 
1949 b. Shoshone II. Morpheme list. Int. S. Amer. Ling., vol. 15, pp. 
203-212. 
n. d. Psychological studies of Wind River Shoshone children. MS. 
Spier, LESLIE. 
1921 a. Notes on the Kiowa Sun Dance. Anthrop. Pap. Amer. Mus. Nat. 
Hist., vol. 16, pp. 437-450. 
1921 b. The Sun Dance of the Plains Indians: Its development and diffu- 
sion. Anthrop. Pap. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 16, pp. 453-527. 
Stewart, O. C. 
1944. Washo-Northern Paiute Peyotism. Univ. Calif. Publ. Amer. Archeol. 
Ethnol., vol. 40, pp. 63-142. 
Strone, Wittiam Duncan. 
1940. From history to prehistory in the Northern Great Plains. Smithsonian 
Mise. Coll. vol. 100, pp. 853-394. 
Tuomas, A. B. 
1929. An eighteenth century Comanche document. Amer. Anthrop., 
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TuwaitTss, R. G., Eprror. 
1905. Original journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, 1804-1806 
New York. 


484 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLy. 151 


TurneEy-Hiau, H. H. 
1941. Ethnography of the Kutenai. Mem. Amer. Anthrop. Assoc., vol. 56. 
TYRRELL, J. B., Eprror. 

1916. David Thompson’s narrative of his explorations in western America, 

1784-1812. Publ. Champlain Soc., vol. 3. Toronto. 
WALKER, J. R. 

1917. The Sun Dance and other ceremonies of the Oglala Division of the 
Teton Dakota. Anthrop. Pap. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 16, 
pp. 51-222. 

Witson, E. N. 
1926. The White Indian Boy. Yonkers-on-Hudson, N, Y. 
WISSLER, CLARK. 

1916. Societies and ceremonial associations in the Oglala Division of the 
Teton-Dakota. Anthrop. Pap. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 11, 
pp. 1-99. ; 

1918. The Sun Dance of the Blackfoot Indians. Anthrop. Pap. Amer. 
Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 16, pp. 223-270. 


BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 151 PLATE 30 


Upper: Tom Compton, May 1937. Lower: ‘The Sun Dance field, July 1, 1937. Note the 
two old center poles, with the side posts of one lodge still standing. Compton’s tent is 
in the center behind the brush screen. ‘To the lower right is the hole excavated that 


morning. 


BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 151 PLATE 31 


wie 


Upper: Measuring radii to locate side-post holes from the center pole. July 3, 1937. 
Lower: Compton, stooped over, fixing the buffalo head onto the center pole. ‘Tassitsie, 
right, is painting it. Note the Indian Service truck used to haul branches. 


BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 151 PLATE 32 


Upper: How the rafters are raised. Only one set of joined poles is being used here. Lower: 
Getting ready to lift the center pole. The tips of the rafters have been placed in the 
forks of the side posts; the east-running rafter is lying in the foregound. 


BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 151 PLATE 33 


Upper: Men putting up the side roof poles, July 3, 1937, 6:50 p.m. Lower: The brush wall 
being finished, July 3, 1937, 7:30.p. m. 


BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 151 PLATE 34 


Upper: Before dawn, July 4, 1937, 4:00 a. m. The orchestra at left and women singers, 
huddled in blankets, in center, in front of the log separating the secular from the sacred 
ground. Resting dancers dimly visible in the right rear. Lower: The dancers greet the 
rising sun. Details of the center pole are also visible here: the tying of the willow bundles, 
the pile of rocks, the digging stick, and the two black bands. 


BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 151 PLATE 35 


Upper: Another view of the dancers greeting the rising sun. Their blankets are at their 
feet. Compton, the man with the white-painted eyes, is second from the left in front. 
Lower: A third view of the sunrise ceremony, showing the spatial relations between the 
fire at the bottom right, the singers at the left, and the dancers. 


BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 151 PLATE 36 


Upper: The prayer songs around the fire. Compton is at the upper right, with face exposed. 
In prayer the dancers place their hands over their mouths, muffling their voices. The 
age of some of the dancers is evident from the white hair of the one at left center. Lower: 
Details of the orchestra and spectators. The singers are seated in a circle at the left. Just 
to the right of them may be seen the sagebrush branches in the hands of the women 
singers. Old men at right of center near the rope marking off the dancing ground. 
Most of the children at far right are preoccupied with things other than the Sun Dance. 
July 4, 1937, afternoon. 


BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 151 PLATE 37 


Upper: Dancing. Note the whistles in the dancers’ mouths, the eagle plumes suspended 
from their little fingers. Most of them are resting in the sheds constructed that morning. 
The earth around the foot of the center pole is from the previous night’s fire. July 5, 
early afternoon. Lower: Tired dancers. Compton at the left. Note that he is no longer 
painted and that he has changed his skirt. Observe the paintings on the cloth. July 5, 
1937, early afternoon. 


SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 
Bureau of American Ethnology 
Bulletin 151 


Anthropological Papers, No. 42 


Current Trends in the Wind River Shoshone Sun Dance 


By FRED W. VOGET 


485 


CONTENTS 


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CURRENT TRENDS IN THE WIND RIVER SHOSHONE SUN 
DANCE ? 


By Frep W. Voczst 


INTRODUCTION 


The Wind River Shoshone, situated on a reservation near Lander, 
Wyo., not only have maintained a modified form of the aboriginal 
Sun Dance as a native worship, but also have transmitted the com- 
plex to neighboring tribes.2, The ceremonial, in both its aboriginal 
and modern expressions (1937), has been treated by Dr. Demitri B. 
Shimkin in the preceding paper of this volume.? The present paper 
is designed to supplement Dr. Shimkin’s study with a presentation 
of data obtained in 1948 and to analyze trends in change and stability 
since 1937. For purposes of description the treatment will be made 
under the following rubrics: Sponsorship and organization, preliminary 
dances, lodge construction, dance practices, and ideology. 


SPONSORSHIP AND ORGANIZATION 


The manner of publicly announcing sponsorship of a Sun Dance 
and its sole direction by the pledger has been maintained, but certain 
changes in organization are evident. These modifications in part 
are traceable to the recognition of functions which were emerging in 
1937, and to a weakening of the informal pattern of leadership owing 
to the death of men of “aboriginal” status. 

Shoshone tradition emphasizes a single performance in any year, but 
since 1939 two performances have been given, one during the latter 
part of July and the other during the latter part of August. While the 
Shoshone have encouraged the attendance of tourists for some time, 
it was not until 1939 that a performance was scheduled for their special 


1 The paper is an adaptation of a fuller treatment of the current ceremonial. The writer gratefully 
acknowledges financial assistance provided by the Laboratory of Anthropology, University of Nebraska, 
and the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, McGill University. I also wish to thank Dr. Demitri 
B. Shimkin for his valuable criticisms of the manuscript and for making the necessary arrangements to 
include it with his own publication. 

2 The ceremonials of the Ute, Fort Hall Shoshone, and Crow are traceable to the Wind River Shoshone 
(Opler, 1941; Hoebel, 1935; Voget, 1948 and MS.). 

3 For a detailed account of the ceremonial upon which comparisons are based, the reader is referred to 
Dr. Shimkin’s study, No. 41, this volume, 


489 


490 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bunn. 151 


benefit. In effect this meant that the Sun Dance had taken on a new 
function, one which implicated it in tribal enterprises designed to 
attract white patronage, such as the rodeo. As late as 1937, according 
to Shimkin, the Sun Dance was supervised by a ‘‘semihereditary”’ 
society known as the “Cree” or ‘‘Antlers.”” By 1939, however, an 
elective committee system was instituted which was empowered “To 
authorize and promote rodeo events, Indian dances, and entertain- 
ments among the Shoshone people and any people residing within the 
bounds of the reservation, who so desires to participate.” > The new 
organization was placed under the jurisdiction of the Shoshone Busi- 
ness Council, and in 1945 a constitution and bylaws were drawn up to 
determine the full powers and duties of the Shoshone Entertainment 
Committee.° The above development appears to have been related to 
a growing dissatisfaction with financial irregularities attributed to 
older informal organizations, and to the spread of a responsible com- 
mittee system stimulated by comprehensive Government plans to 
develop a measure of political responsibility and economic inde- 
pendence among the Shoshone.’ The pledger, instead of contacting the 
semihereditary society, now communicates his intention to the com- 
mittee, the members of which then assist with the arrangements. The 
pledger also selects six assistants, who thus constitute a sort of sub- 
committee, to facilitate the production of the Sun Dance. Not 
infrequently the members of the Sun Dance Committee may be asso- 
ciated with a society, but such membership is not the basis for their 
selection. Relationship, friendship, and ceremonial experience appear 
to be more significant. 

While the primary function of the Shoshone Entertainment Com- 
mittee revolves about the regulation of finances, it is also implicated in 
transportation arrangements and the provision of ceremonial equip- 
ment, e. g., drums, buffalo head, eagle, and cloth pennants. More- 
over, ceremonial acts, such as the maintenance of the fire and the 
bringing of water, formerly performed by special officiants may now 
be carried out by committee members. In addition, spectators are 
formally welcomed by the chairman, and he also has charge of the 
distribution of gifts donated for tribal visitors. Prior to the termina- 
tion of the performance a report of individual contributions to the 
ceremonial and of monies collected from tourists is made public. 
While the informal organization of the Shoshone allows a certain over- 


4 A telegram from the Wyoming Department of Commerce and Industry, dated April 12, 1939, requested 
the ‘‘medicine man” to have the ‘“‘Great Spirit’’ tell him to set a definite date for the dance during the last 
week in July; hence, the annual scheduling of the performance for July 26. 

5 The citation is from the constitution of the Shoshone Entertainment Committee as of 1945, but it accords 
with the intent of the committee elected September 10, 1939. 

6 This information was supplied by Mrs. J. W. Schultz. As of 1948 the constitution of the committee had 
yet to be approved by the tribal council. 

7 Dissatisfaction over the handling of funds is probably of long standing, for one informant stated that the 
Poke-in-Nose society had been revivified ca. 1930 to correct the misuse of funds by members of the Antlers. 


ae a Par. CURRENT TRENDS IN THE SUN DANCE—VOGET 49] 


lap of ceremonial functions between the elected and appointed com- 
mittees, it is evident that the committee system has supplanted con- 
trols formerly exercised by the semihereditary society. It is equally 
evident that the function of the ceremonial has been redefined in 
such a way that it tends to be viewed as a public possession designed 
to serve the public welfare. 

The ceremonial role of the sponsor has not diminished perceptibly 
in the face of the above committee development. Moreover, older 
men, frequently members of societies and experienced Sun Dancers, 
volunteer their services and cooperate fully with the pledger in the 
direction of the performance. It is apparent, however, that a weak- 
ening of the informal leadership structure has resulted from the grad- 
ual decline in the number of men who had grown up in the shadow of 
the aboriginal culture. This has allowed rival leaders to emerge, 
some of whom are endeavoring to change the ceremonial whereas 
others are seeking to maintain a status quo.2 The Shoshone tend to 
contrast present Sun Dance leadership unfavorably with that of the 
past, and informants generally were of the opinion that the powers 
exercised by current leaders were not so great as those of former years. 
It is not unlikely that dual performances are symptomatic of emergent 
factions, for the predominant full-blood membership and the nature 
of the August performance in 1948 suggest an alinement of con- 
servatives. Certainly dissatisfaction with a particular performance 
was cited as the reason for a second. Again, undue individual hard- 
ship was reported as a motive for sponsoring a second performance. 

Sponsorship of the Sun Dance and participation have remained the 
prerogatives of males. Fifty-six dancers performed in the July and 
33 in the August ceremonials respectively. Of the latter, 26 were 
Wind River Shoshone, the remainder being distributed among the 
Ute, Idaho Shoshone, and Arapaho. Participants disclosed a range 
of 15 to 68 years in age, with a mean of 38 years. A break-down ac- 
cording to age disclosed the surprising fact that nearly half of the per- 
formers were under 30 years, and of these 9 were from 15 to 19 years 
of age’ Full-bloods (including one individual rated %) constituted 
nearly 72 percent of the participants, whereas in the population at 
large they totaled no more than 26 percent. Fifteen of the twenty- 
six Shoshone participants, including the sponsor, were Peyotists.” 


8 For an account of John Truhujo’s sustained attempts to introduce substantial changes in the ceremo- 
nial, see Voget, 1950. 

9 The threat of induction into the Army probably accounts for the unusual number of youths in the 
ceremonial. 

10 From data supplied by Shimkin with respect to participation in the ceremony witnessed in 1937, certain 
correspondences and differences are revealed. Of 23 participants listed, nearly one-third were under 30 
yearsofage. Their agesranged from 19 to77 years, the average being 38 years. Full-bloods comprised some 
43 percent of the participants, a figure significantly lower than that recorded for the 1948 performance but 
nonetheless weighted in favor of racial purity. The number of Peyotists totaled 10. 


492 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Buuy. 151 


The contributions of women for the most part were routine, such as 
singing, the bringing of bedding, and the preparation of the feast. 
No women were observed to help in the construction of the lodge. 


PRELIMINARY DANCES 


While four preliminary dances usually precede a Sun Dance perform- 
ance, the minimum requirement is two. The increasing use of two as 
a ritual number in the Sun Dance was remarked by Shimkin (1942, 
p. 459), an innovation which he traced to Peyotism. A degree of varia- 
bility, however, appears to have been characteristic of this subcom- 
plex, for in 1912 Lowie (1919, p. 393) reported a total of three singing 
dances for the ceremonial. 

Theoretically the function of the singing is to render the area for 
the main performance sacred, but no effort was made to control the 
movements of spectators, who encroached freely on the “‘sacred”’ area 
west of the fire. Several informants stated that approximately 15 
years before no one would have been allowed west of the fire unless he 
were to remove his shoes. The perfunctory character of current 
preliminary dances is impressive and indicates a lack of interest which 
probably is the prelude to disappearance, as Barnett observed, among 
societies in northwestern California." 


LODGE CONSTRUCTION 


Religious activity among the Shoshone, as among most nomadic 
Plains tribes, has been characterized by a loose ceremonialism rather 
than by an integrated ritualism. The primary emphasis has been 
upon the psychic experience of the individual in relation to the super- 
natural, and thus it is not surprising that the minutiae of ordered 
form have been neglected. This emphasis upon the end rather than 
the instruments thereto has allowed individual changes in content, 
provided they conformed to a minimum definition, and also has 
influenced the reaction of the group to the introduction of Euro- 
American artifacts. Thus, the Shoshone have not hesitated in the 
past to use wagons to haul the timbers to the lodge site, and currently 
trucks and trailers are coming into vogue (Lowie, 1919, p. 393). In 
the same vein we note the early introduction of the ax, crowbar, 
shovel, rope, wire, stuffed eagles, and mounted buffalo heads to facili- 
tate the construction of the lodge. 

Activities in relation to lodge construction were informal and with- 
out significant direction by the sponsor, who appeared to rely equally 
upon his assistant and another experienced dancer. These men pro- 


1 Barnett, 1940, pp. 44-45. Shimkin (personal communication) observed that the preliminary dances 
which he witnessed struck him as more perfunctory than that described by the writer. 


No. 42]. *)« CURRENT TRENDS IN THE SUN DANCE—vOGET 493 


ceeded at a leisurely pace from one task to another, and when stop- 
pages would occur, the group would confer and soon dispatch a 
younger man for the required tool or rope. <A limited amount of 
organization was suggested by the pairs of young men assigned to dig 
the post holes. These were referred to as a “‘detail,’”’ and it was stated 
that they were to be relieved after a few hours’ work. The relief, 
however, did not materialize. 

The construction of the lodge, as Shimkin has indicated, involves a 
basic sequence of events; but few of these appear to be impervious to 
variation. In the digging of post holes, special attention was given 
first to the center post and secondly to the west post and it is quite 
probable that this sequence is more or less enjoined. For the remain- 
der of the post holes, the workers began at the points marking the 
entranceway and proceeded in a counterclockwise and a clockwise 
direction respectively. The erection of the posts marking the perim- 
eter disclosed a basic counterclockwise sequence. When erecting the 
rafters, special attention was paid to the cardinal points, west, east, 
south, and north, and then a basic clockwise sequence was followed. 
The stringers used to lock the rafters in place also were laid in a clock- 
wise manner, beginning with the entranceway. 

Certain modifications appear to be in line with a functional redef- 
inition of the complex to accord with current problems and to accom- 
modate to the model of Christian worship. Foremost among such 
changes is the progressive loss of ceremonial traits deriving from the 
war complex, a trend also reported by Shimkin. According to Lynn 
St. Clair, no coup has been struck on either the center pole or the 
forked rafter preliminary to felling since 1946. The assault on the 
lodge timbers after they have been brought to the camp is usually 
omitted,” and the ringing of the center pole with charcoal bands by 
warriors who recite their coups is no longer found. Several inform- 
ants traced the above omissions to a lack of eligible officiants owing to 
the death of men of aboriginal status.* The Shoshone, unlike the 
Crow, have not equated veterans of world wars with aboriginal 
warriors and allowed the former to substitute in the ceremonial situation 
(Voget, n.d., MS.). Instead, the Shoshone have substituted prayers 
by the sponsor. The veteran has been included in the contemporary 


12 A sham battle was included in the July performance, presumably because of the tourist emphasis. 

13 The Shoshone apparently do not insist upon the decoration of the pole, but leave the decision to the 
pledger. In the July performance the base of the pole was smeared with yellow paint; in the August per- 
formance the pole was undecorated. 

14 “The reason for selecting these old men to strike the pole is because he had been in many wars and he 
was protected, we believe, by the Father .... And then he has that privilege to strike that pole and then 
he could tell about that deed in form ofa prayer. He prays that all the young people be protected like he 
was through those wars and that his people be healthy and that today they be protected from disease like 
he was protected from arrows and bullets. But today we have no old men like that to give us blessing like 
that and the sponsor... has to pray ... foreverything... .” 


494. BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLn. 151 


ceremonial, but only by the introduction of a special subcomplex 
involving the American flag. 

Various subcomplexes which appear to be stabilized in Shimkin’s 
description now seem to be characterized by instability. Thus, the 
decoration of ceremonial objects, such as the buffalo head and the 
eagle, is falling into desuetude. Variation in the color of the pennants 
attached to the forks of the center pole also is apparent. During the 
1948 performances, yellow-and-gray and red-and-blue pennants were 
used in contrast with the usual blue-and-white. While this trait may 
be potentially variable, owing to the fact that it is the pledger who 
decides the colors according to his dream, nevertheless it is significant 
that individuation is so frequent. The attachment of the eagle 
likewise demonstrates variability; in 1937 Shimkin described the 
eagle as facing east, whereas in Wesaw’s performance in 1948 it faced 
west.!® As I have indicated elsewhere, John Truhujo has endeavored 
to introduce form elements currently integrated in Peyote ceremonial- 
ism which he considers aboriginal (Voget, 1950). 


DANCE PRACTICES 


Ceremonial practices revealed no fundamental changes from those 
recorded by Shimkin in 1937, but it is evident that a basic trend of 
simplification is proceeding. The dress of the participants is be- 
coming simplified by the loss of the apron worn over the fringed 
skirt, although this trait is retained by older men. On the other 
hand, American artifacts have been accepted increasingly as adjuncts 
to a dancer’s toilet and dress. Thus, towels, wash basins, mirrors, 
lipsticks, and modern jewelry are standard equipment for the indi- 
vidual performer. 

As an adjunct to the drumming and singing, the gourd rattle is 
used sporadically; it was first employed during the second day of the 
performance witnessed. The fire is no longer kindled ceremonially 
by an old warrior, and both coup recitations and shamanistic per- 
formances are obsolescent. Attempts by Truhujo to introduce special 
ceremonial prayers have not met with success, but a close friend, 
Tilton West, performed a formalized smoking with the pipe during 
the dance sponsored by 'Tom Wesaw. 

The ideal of striving for the closest contact with the supernatural, 
epitomized by the semitrance faint, is still expressed, but it is doubtful 
whether it occurs any more. Rather, an increasing reliance upon 
dreaming is apparent, for no prolonged dancing by a single performer 


1s The variability may derive from individual inclination, for Tilton West, a close friend of Truhujo 
(who insists that the eagle should face west), attached the eagle in the August performance. In the July 
performance Truhujo attached six eagle feathers to each fork of the rafter instead of at the crotch, as is cus- 
tomary. 


No 49), | *)~« CURRENT TRENDS IN THE SUN DANCE—VoOGET 495 


was observed. And, indeed, the old men appeared singularly unen- 
thusiastic in their encouragement of the performers. 

A special subcomplex involving the American flag appears to be 
permanently incorporated in the ceremonial.!® The flag is raised every 
morning before the resumption of the dance following the sunrise cere- 
mony and it is lowered in the late afternoon when the performance is 
again about to be interrupted. The subcomplex involves a pole 
(entirely stripped of bark to resemble the usual flagpole) erected at the 
entranceway, an American flag donated by a woman whose son was 
killed in action, special flag song, standing of all participants and 
nonparticipants with head uncovered and facing the flag, drumming 
and singing solely by a Shoshone group led by the inventor of the song, 
prayer by the sponsor, and veteran personnel to handle the flag. The 
incorporation of the above during the war (ca. 1945) emphasizes the 
sensitivity of Shoshone worship to current problems and the reemer- 
gence of the predominant aboriginal function of the ceremonial in 
relation to war. 

Curative practices emphasize the basic pattern of prayer and brush- 
ing of the patient with a fan or wing of the eagle, as reported by 
Shimkin. However, each practitioner maintains a certain individual- 
ity in technique and a differential in power is recognized by the public 
at large. A possible change in the position of patients undergoing 
treatment may have occurred, for in the 1937 performance they faced 
west, whereas in 1948 they faced east. However, it is more probable 
that east facing and west facing were alternatives in 1937 according to 
the individual practice of the shaman. 

The August performance also witnessed the introduction of an 
alternative to the usual custom of blessing the participants immedi- 
ately prior to the termination of the dance. All the performers were 
blessed in groups by the medicine men during the course of the after- 
noon. In this way the terminal ceremonies were shortened and the 
blessing by respected nonparticipants obviated. The surprise and 
complaint which this action elicited probably indicate that it will 
not become stabilized as an alternative. 


IDEOLOGY 


The contact of the Shoshone with Christianity, as Shimkin (1942, 
p. 458) has observed, led to a profound reorientation of the Sun 
Dance. Christian influences relate to new meanings attributed to 
the ceremonial as a whole as well as to specific form elements. The 
conception of the Sun Dance as a “‘religion” and reinterpretations, 


16 A similar use of the flag developed among the Crow. While diffusion is not to be ruled out, it is not 
unlikely that a parallel development has occurred, for the Crow commonly make use of the American flag 
during their festive annual encampment (Voget, n. d., MS.). 


496 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY (Buby. 151 


such as the center pole and the rafters in terms of the crucifixion and 
the Twelve Disciples, proceeds apace. Thus, Lynn St. Clair inter- 
prets the forked rafter as Judas,” and Truhujo conceives the north 
and south poles to be representative of the two thieves. The latter 
also has developed a set of “12 commandments.’’ While it is possible 
that initial attempts at Christian reinterpretation were accommoda- 
tive in character, the trend is basic today. 

The influence of Christianity is also observable in the inflated role 
of the Creator.’ While a Shoshone devotee may personify the center 
pole, buffalo, sun, and earth in address, nevertheless the Creator is 
first petitioned, and He is usually equated with the Christian deity (cf. 
Shimkin, 1942, p. 458). It would appear as if Christian ethic has 
made little impression on the Sun Dance, aside from a general emphasis 
upon peaceful relations with others. The Sun Dance is not conceived 
in terms of the moral regeneration of the individual—it is still an 
individual technique for living and not a technique for salvation. 


DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS 


Both Linton and Barnett have demonstrated that a consideration 
of culture traits and complexes with respect to form, meaning, func- 
tion, and principle allows much insight into the process and range of 
permissive modification (Linton, 1936, pp. 402-421; Barnett, 1940 
and 1942). From acculturative investigations among three north- 
west. California societies Barnett concluded that the critical factor 
in the modification of culture lay in the affective meaning-function 
associated with a specific form element or complex (Barnett, 1940, 
p. 42; 1942, p. 15). Changes effected in the Shoshone Sun Dance 
tend to support the emphasis upon function. 

To participant Shoshone the Sun Dance is, above all, a form of 
worship. It is native worship insofar as the dance was revealed to 
the Indian long before he had knowledge of the Bible; it is Christian 
worship inasmuch as prayer is directed to God and the ceremonial 
comprises elements which can only be interpreted in terms of Chris- 
tian teaching. It is asif God revealed His worship to the old Shoshone 
without indicating its full import. As the Shoshone have become 


17 “We know they tell us that one of the disciples, when this people ordered their ruler that Jesus should 
be crucified—one of his own disciples told the soldiers that he would go and kiss the Saviour and ‘that 
is the way you will know that is the right one that you are seeking.’ And all over the Indians use this sign 
for liar, and we have this pole [forked rafter] and it is the first pole that contacts the center pole. And yet 
those old Indians didn’t know what they had. That’s why we have a lot of respect for the Sun Dance. If 
we believe in it and use it as near like as the old Indian believed in it, we get good out of it.” 

18 A similar importance has been attributed to the Creator in Peyotism. (See, e. g., Petrullo, 1934; also 
Radin, 1923.) With respect to the Ghost Dance of 1870 Du Bois (1939, p. 138) suggests that ‘‘much of the 
Californian idea of asupreme being is a post-Ghost Dance crystallization. Quite probably prior to Christian 
influences a supreme being was imminent in Californian ideology, but it was vague and without attributes. 
Christian and Ghost Dance stimuli were necessary to crystallize the concept into a clarity which now per- 
mnits the Indians to render it by the English word ‘God.’ ” 


No 43)? CURRENT TRENDS IN THE SUN DANCE—VOGET 497 


familiar with biblical history and teaching, they have learned increas- 
ingly the ‘‘why” of various practices. Thus, in the construction of 
the lodge 12 rafters rest upon a center pole, just as the Twelve Dis- 
ciples leaned upon the Savior for their support. The functional 
redefinition of the Sun Dance in terms of a religion thus has been of 
the utmost significance. It has led not only to the equation of the 
native and Christian creators, but also to an inflation of the role of 
the godhead. Other members of the Trinity also have been incor- 
porated into the world of spirit forces still petitioned by the Shoshone. 
The place accorded these Christian spirit forces, however, appears 
to be a prominent one; for leaders of the ceremonial are wont to 
emphasize the intercessory role of the native forces. Thus, accord- 
ing to aboriginal conception the willows moved in unison by the 
women’s chorus promote abundance; but to achieve the abundance of 
fruits of the earth prayer today is directed to God through the wil- 
lows. A similar emphasis upon intercession is noticeable in the self- 
effacing attempts of the doctors, who explain their cures as due to 
the activation of some spirit force, notably God. ‘The reinterpreta- 
tion of the Sun Dance in terms of a ‘‘church” has also contributed 
materially to the simplifying of the ceremonial through the loss of 
traits associated with aboriginal warfare and shamanism. A change 
in function-meaning in effect has rendered the above subcomplexes 
obsolescent and resulted in their progressive disappearance. 

It is evident, however, that the basic function of the ceremonial, 
the alleviation of anxiety-producing conditions facing the individual, 
has remained constant, whereas the meaning content has changed. 
Under aboriginal conditions the Sun Dance appears to have been a 
prophetic instrument in relation to war, whereas its postreserve func- 
tions have been to restore individuals to health and to acquire the 
powers thereto. Herein lies a substantial basis for the perpetuation 
of the religious complex in the face of the substitutes offered by 
Christianity and modern medical practice. And, in connection with 
these function-meanings of the Sun Dance, it is notable that the 
prayer in attitude of benediction and Christian protective devices 
(e. g., the cross) are the only Christian forms which have been incor- 
porated into the ceremonial. Prayer has been substituted for 
aboriginal ceremonial acts, and it is so important to the treatment of a 
patient that the curative technique is virtually a blessing. It is 
probably owing to the maintenance of the curative function of the cere- 
monial that the influence of Christian ethic has been minimal. 

The development of a new function for the Sun Dance is found in its 
exploitation as a tourist attraction. This has resulted in the emer- 
gence of a new organization modeled upon the committee complex of 
the dominant society. The immediate need has revolved about the 


498 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Buty. 151 


regulation of finances, and has resulted in the over-all direction of the 
ceremonial by an elective tribal committee and the supersession of the 
informal societal organization formerly associated with the production 
of the Sun Dance. However, the new organization has not interfered 
significantly with the basic ceremonial organization: a dance is 
pledged by an individual who receives divine sanction and who exer- 
cises rather full control over the ceremonial activities. 

While the reinterpretation of the total complex as a native- 
Christian worship is well established, the number of form elements to 
which a Christian meaning is invariably attributed is limited to two, 
namely, the center pole as the cross and the rafters as the Twelve 
Disciples. The remainder of the form elements may be given a 
native or a Christian meaning, and occasionally an informant admits 
to a dual cultural interpretation. 

Finally, the underlying principle of the Sun Dance, evocation of 
supernatural sympathy through bodily deprivation, also is equated 
with presumed Christian principle by citing Christ’s fasting and 
suffering during a period of 40 days and nights. 

From a review of the data the following conclusions may be offered: 

(1) The predominantly native form of the Sun Dance has been 
stabilized owing to the reinterpretation of the ceremonial as a 
revealed native-Christian worship. In this process of stabilization the 
ceremonial has become simplified through the loss of certain aboriginal 
traits associated with complexes no longer functional under the modi- 
fied conditions. Realizing that their current ceremonial does not 
measure up to the aboriginal expression either in content or in spirit, 
the Shoshone have rationalized the losses by pointing to the disap- 
pearance of the aboriginal culture—a situation which does not allow 
fulfillment of the old conditions of the dance. The above redefinition 
of the ceremonial also has developed an attitude, which, on the one 
hand, stimulates the attribution of Christian meanings to estab- 
lished forms, and on the other, proves an effective bar to the reintro- 
duction of aboriginal elements. At the same time the death of 
men of aboriginal status has contributed to a weakening of the infor- 
mal pattern of leadership and resulted in a relaxation of controls 
upon the individual. This has allowed the emergence of rival leaders 
who in time may head opposing factions. 

(2) The basic function of the ceremonial has remained constant, 
but new functions have been added in response to current sociocul- 
tural conditions. An addition of function has resulted in the incor- 
poration of a new subcomplex ratber than-in the assimilation of the 
new function by established forms. Speaking generally, one may 
conclude that a change in function has preceded and tended to shape 
changes in form and form meanings. 


No 49), “® «CURRENT TRENDS IN THE SUN DANCE—VOGET 499 


(3) The basic principle of the ceremonial has remained constant, 
but its objective manifestation has been moderated. Moreover, a 
new meaning has been attributed to the principle to accord with 
Christian tradition. 

In brief, the result of the above modifications is the emergence of 
a syncretic complex which may best be characterized as native- 
modified. Basic form, function, and principle have demonstrated a 
high degree of constancy, whereas the associated meanings have 
evidenced much variability. The majority of changes in form have 
resulted from disappearances rather than from additions. When 
additions have been made, they are based upon the elaboration of 
special functions or the development of new functions. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


Barnett, H. G. 
1940. Culture processes. Amer. Anthrop., vol. 42, pp. 21-48. 
1942. Invention and cultural change. Amer. Anthrop., vol. 44, pp. 14-30. 
Du Bors, C. - 
1939. The 1870 Ghost Dance. Univ. Calif. Anthrop. Rec., vol. 3, No. 1. 
Berkeley. 
Hoeset, E. A. 
1935. The Sun Dance of the Hekandika Shoshone. Amer. Anthrop., vol. 37, 
pp. 570-581. 
Linton, R. 
1936. The study of man: An introduction. New York. 
Lowis, R. H. 
1919. The Sun Dance of the Wind River Shoshone and Ute. Anthrop. Pap. 
Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 16, pp. 387-410. 
Opter, M. K. 
1941. The integration of the Sun Dance in Ute religion. Amer. Anthrop., 
vol. 48, pp. 550-572. 
PETRULLO, V. 
1934. The diabolic root: A study of Peyotism, the new Indian religion, among 
the Delawares. Philadelphia. 
Rapin, P. 
1923. The Winnebago tribe. Thirty-Seventh Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. 
Ethnol., 1915-16. Washington. 
Suimxkin, D. B. 
1942. Dynamics of recent Wind River Shoshone history. Amer. Anthrop., 
vol. 44, pp. 451-462. 
1952. The Wind River Shoshone Sun Dance. Bur. Amer. Ethnol. Bull. 151, 
Anthrop. Pap. 41, pp. 397-484. 
n.d. Field notes, Wind River Shoshone. 
Vocst, F. 
1948. Individual motivation in the diffusion of the Wind River Shoshone 
Sundance to the Crow Indians. Amer. Anthrop., vol. 50, pp. 
634-646. 
1950. A Shoshone Innovator. Amer. Anthrop., vol. 52, pp. 53-63. 
n. d. The Shoshone-Crow Sundance: A study in diffusion. MS. 


i, on 


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INDEX 


Aboriginal Fish Poisons (Heizer), 225- 
283 


Aboriginal Navigation off the Coasts of 
Upper and Baja California 
(Heizer and Massey), 285-311 

Abortion, practice of, 57 

Aconitum sp., 237 

Adena culture, use of name, 317 

Adena Mound, artifacts, 353-376 

list of, 354-356, 377-378 
eae traits, 376-377 (table), 380— 


conclusions reached, 378-382 
description of, 318-320 (map) 
excavation of, 320, 321 (map), 322, 
323 (fig.), 325 (fig.), 326-328 
(fig.), 329-331 
features of, 332-353 
mineral materials, 386-390 
soil analyses, 382, 383, 384 (fig.), 
385-386 
Adena Mound at Natrium, West Vir- 
ginia, Exploration of, (Solecki), 
317-395 
Aesculus californica, 252 (map) 
Aesculus sp., 236, 253 
Africa, fish poisons, 246-248, 
(table) 
Agaces Indians, 304 
Akwa/’ala Indians, 296 
Algonquians, Plains, 406, 408 
Alta eee pottery, 95, 96, 99, 101, 
115 


264 


Amaravati, India, art designs, 85 (fig.), 
118 


lotus in Hindu-Buddhist art, site 
of, 79 
American Fur Co., relations with In- 
dians, 46, 49, 69 
Angelica sp., 237, 250 
Antilles, fish poisons, 254, 266 (table) 
Apache, Jicarilla, 253 
Apache, Western, 253 
Arapaho, Indian tribe, 406, 407, 408, 
414, 435, 440, 456, 470, 491 
relations with Crows, 31, 38 
Arawak, 254 
Arica, 304 
Arikaras, relations with Crows, 31, 32 
Aristolochia sp., 248, 249 
Artemisia sp., 440 
Artifacts, summary of, 375-376 
Arum triphyllum, 242 
Asclepias curassinica, 237 
Assiniboines, Indian tribe, 37, 38, 408 
relations with Crows, 24, 25, 27, 
31, 37, 56, 63, 64, 67 
Atsina, Indian tribe, 27 


Australia, fish poisons, 243-245, 265 
(table) 
Ax, grooved stone, 356 


Baird, Professor, relations with Denig, 8 
Ball game, Florida Seminole, 182, 183, 
199, 208 
Balls, round stone, 356 
Balsas, Coast Miwok, 292 (fig.) 
tule, 289, 290 (map), 291—296, 297, 
298, 299, 300, 301, 306, 307 
Bannock, Indian tribe, 436, 440, 444, 
456, 458, 470, 472 
Barbarefio Indians, 298 
Beads, barite, 372 
bone, 371 
copper, 369-370, 375, 390 
pearl and shell, 371, 375 
Bear canine tooth, buried with dead, 
372, 376 
Big Cyprus Indians, Seminoles, 177, 178, 
205 


Birdstone, effigy, 356-357, 375, 379 
Black Drink, Big Pot Drink, 202, 203 
Black Drinks, Seminole Indians, 183, 
189, 191, 195-196, 198, 201, 207 
ape Indian tribe, 69, 70, 403, 407, 
relations with Crows, 25, 26, 27, 
28, 38, 39, 45, 46, 48, 50, 58, 54, 
57, 64, 65, 66, 67, 69 
Blood Indians, Indian tribe, 64 
Boats, multiplank, 289, 290 (map), 301 
(fig.), 307 
skin, 307 
Boatstone, 357-358, 375, 376, 380 
Bodega Indians, 291 
Bodmer, Karl, associate of Denig, 6 
Bonampak, art designs, 91, 95, 105, 114 
Bone artifacts, 372 
Boys, amusements of, 58 
Magpie ritual, 427, 436 
seratching of, for Green Corn 
Dance, 191-192 
Buffalo tongues, for Sun Dance Feast, 
426-427 
Button snakeroot (Hryngium synchae- 
tum), 189 


Calakmul, art designs, 91, 117 
California, fish poisons, 250, 251 (map), 
252 (map), 265-266 (table) 

Cancuen, art designs at, 101 
Canoes, dugout, 289, 290 (map), 291, 
294 (map), 296-299 
plank, 290 (map), 291, 294 (map), 
oe 300-308, 301 (fig.), 306, 


501 


502 


Capron, Louis, (The Medicine Bundles 
of the Florida Seminole and the 
Green Corn Dance), 155-210 

Caribs, 238, 254 

Catawba, 253 

Ceiba acuminata, cork logs, 300 

Ceiba sp., 300 

Celts, 358, 375 

hematite, 358-359, 375 
nonferruginous stone, 358 

Chajear, art designs, 89 (fig.), 91, 108 

Chama, art designs, 86 (fig.), 89 (fig.), 
95, 99, 109 

Cherokee, 253 

Cheyennes, 406, 407, 408, 435, 440 

relations with Crows, 31, 38, 41, 42, 
43, 45 

Chichen Itza, Mexico, art designs, 83, 
85 (fig.), 86 (fig.), 87 (fig.), 88 
(fig.), 89 (fig.), 90 (fig.), 95, 97, 
99, 101, 103, 104, 106, 107, 109, 
110, 112, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 
119, 120, 121. 

lotus, resemblances to, 79 

Chickahominy Indians, 253 

Chinkultic, art designs at, 95, 96, 110, 
118, 120 

Chippewa, music of, 213, 214, 215, 221 

Chlorogalum pomeridianum, 252 (map) 

Choctaw Indians, 253 

music of, 215 

Christian religion, effect on Seminole, 
173-175 

Christ, cone belief regarding, 172- 
173 


Chukchi tribes, 304 

Chumash, Indian tribe, 289, 290, 292, 
293, 294, 298, 300, 301, 302, 307 

Cissus sicyoides, ingredient of Black 
Drink, 202 

Clibadium asperum, 238 

Clibadium sylvestre, 255 

Clothing, men’s, 35 

women’s, 36 

Coal, ornamental use of, 372 

Coast Miwok Indians, 291, 292, 297 

Coates, James, trapper, 49, 51 

Cochimi Indians, 296, 304 

Cocopa Indians, 239, 296 

Coffee, preparation of, 206 

Comanche, 403, 407, 414 

relations with Crows, 40, 41 

Compton, Tom, Shoshone shaman, 451, 
453, 455, 457, 458-464, 469, 471 

Copan, art designs, 86 (fig.), 88 (fig.), 
90 (fig.), 95, 96, 99, 100, 101, 103, 
1055 106, 107) 110,71 tt Pars, 
117, 121 

Copper artifacts, 369-370 

Cordage, 374-375 

Corn, preparation of for Corn Dance, 205 

Costanoan Indians, 293 

Court Day, Green Corn Dance, 170, 
ih 175, 178, 1838, 185, 188-190, 
I! 


BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 


[BuLL. 151 


Cow Creeks, Seminoles, 160, 161, 162, 
175, 189 
Creek Indians, 253 
Crees, Indian tribe, 37 
Plains, 403, 408, 414 
Croton sp., 242 
Crow Nation, characteristics of, 28-38 
country of, 20-24, 21 (map) 
dress and ornaments, 33-34 
fur trade with, 68-71 
hunting habits, 37, 38 
intertribal relations, 25 
lack of morals, 31, 32 
mourning customs, 35, 45 
polygamy among, 34 
population and major divisions, 24, 
57-58 
prospects for intertribal peace, 64 
punishment for crime, 29-31 
raiding for horses, 25-27 
relationship to Hidatsa, 19-24 
separation from Hidatsa, 20, 62 
tobacco-planting ceremony, 59-63 
trade and war, 56-57 
traveling arrangements, 36 
_ treatment of prisoners, 28 
Crow Nation, Of the, (Denig), 1-74 
Crows, Indian tribe, 403, 405, 407, 480, 
470, 473 
Culbertson, Alexander, fur trader, 5, 7, 
8, 14, 18, 50, 51, 52, 53 
Cupania pseudorhus, 242 
Cupstones, natural, 366 
Curtis, Edward S., information from, 24 
Cyclamen sp., 249 


Dakota, Indian tribe,407,408,480,484,485 
Canadian, 408 
Sisseton, 408 
Dances, Alligator, 186 
Big Horse, 424 
Buffalo, 186, 193, 198 
Catfish, 186 
Chicken, 187 
Deer Hoof Rattle, 485 
Father, 429, 432, 483, 434, 437 
Feather, 186, 1938-195, 198 
Ghost, 432, 483, 435, 437, 451, 458, 
467, 471 
Green Corn, 159-210 
Gun, 186 
“Just,” 199 
Quail, 187 
Round, 435 
Screech Owl, 187 
Sioux Sun, 222 
Spirit, of the Plateau, 405, 406 
Steal, 186. 
Wind River Shoshone Sun, 403-— 
484, 485-499 
Wolf, 435, 467, 471 
Women’s, 451 
Woodpecker, 187 
Dangling-foot, Crow chief, 44 
Daphne mezereum, 256 


INDEX 


Delaware Indians, 253 
Denig, Edwin Thompson, ancestry, 5 
contributions to American ethnol- 
ogy, 12, 14, 15, 16 
death of, 13 
life and works of (Ewers), 5-18 
marriage of, 13 
(“Of the Crow Nation”), 1-74 
relations with Smithsonian, 8 
Denig, George (Dr.), father of Edwin 
Thompson Denig, 5 
Densmore, Frances (Technique in the 
Music of the American Indian), 
211-216 
(The Belief of the Indian in a Con- 
nection between Song and the 
Supernatural), 217-223 
Derris malaccensis, 237 
De Smet, Father Pierre Jean, relations 
with Denig, 8, 9, 11, 138 
Dieguefio Indians, 295, 300 
Diospyros toxicaria, 236 
Doll, Sun Dance, 404, 405, 407, 414, 
418, 423, 437 
Dreams, Indian beliefs regarding, 220 
Dresden Codex, art design, 87 (fig.), 90 
(fig.), 91, 95, 97, 101, 103, 104, 
105, 108, 115 
Drills, chipped stone, 369 
Duboisia hopwoodii, 240 
Dugouts, Yurok, 297 
Dugouts, log, 289, 290 (map), 291, 294 
(map), 296-298, 299, 306 


Eagle feather, used in Sun Dance, 442 

Eastern Asia, fish poisons, 263 (table) 

Echaltium piscidium, fish poison, 235 

Echinocystis fabacea, 250 

Echinocystis oreganus, 250 

El Chicozapote, art designs at, 109 

Eremocarpus setigerus, 242, 252 (map) 

Eryngium synchaetum, ingredient of 

Black Drink, 189 

Eskimo, 303, 304, 307 

Euphorbia cotinifolia, fish poison, 231 

Euphorbia cotinoides, 255 

Europe and Northern Asia, fish poisons, 
263 (table) 

Kurope, fish poisons, 248-249 

Evil Spirit, Seminole beliefs in, 173, 175 

Ewers, John C. (Life and works of 
Edwin Thompson Denig, intro- 
duction), 5-18 

Exploration of an Adena Mound at 
Natrium, West Virginia (Solecki), 
317-395 


Fire beds, 332, 334, 335, 336, 337, 338 
Fish poisoning, origin of, 234-236 
Fish poisons, aboriginal, 229-283 
Africa, 264 (table) 
Antilles, 266 (table) 


areal distributions of, 2438, 244 


503 


Fish poisons—Continued 

botanical source lists, 232-233 

California, 265-266 (table) 

eastern Asia, 263 (table) 

Europe and northern Asia, 263 
(table) 

Guatemala, Mexico, and _ south- 
eastern United States, 267 (ta- 
ble) 

method of use, 231-232 

Oceania, 262 (table) 

South America, 268-272 (table) 

southern Asia and Indonesia, 259— 
262 (table) 

Flat Heads, Indian tribe, 406, 416 
pe pbions with Crows, 25, 27, 31, 41, 
0 


Florida Seminole, 160-175 
clans of, 178, 180 (plan), 181 (plan), 
197, 201 
Creek Division, 160 
Green Corn Dance, 155, 162, 163, 
174, 175-208 
helpers with Medicine, 183-184 
houses, 180, 181 
Medicine Bundles, 162-173, 175 
Miccosuki Division, 160 
mode of living, 161 
mourning customs, 174-175 
music of, 215 
myths believed by, 164-170 
Flower, elements, tabulation of Maya 
treatment, 97-98 
types, tabulation of Maya treat- 
ment, 92-938, 94, 95, 96 


Gabrielefio Indians, 294, 298 

Ganophyllum obliquum, 241 

Ghosts, pommuol beliefs regarding, 174— 
175 


Girls, amusements of, 58 
Gnaphalium sp., 422, 443 
God, Seminole beliefs regarding, 172- 
175 
Gorget, copper reel, 369, 375 
stone, 359 
Great Ball Court, Chichen Itza, 110 


Green Corn Dance, beliefs regarding, 
163-164, 205 
ceremonial scratching, 206-208 
chants for, 203-204 
Court Day, 170, 171, 175, 178, 183, 
185, 188-190, 192, 196, 196— 
200 
crime and the court, 196-198 
final morning, 205-206 
grounds for, 176 (fig.), 177, 179 
(fig.), 180 (fig.), 182-1838, 187 
last night, 200-201, 202-205 
Pienic Day, 177, 178, 188, 191, 1938 
schedule for, 177, 178 
Seminole, 159-210 


(map), 245-255, 251 (map), 252} Gros Ventres, Indian tribe, 19, 20, 25, 


map 
Australia, 265 (table) 
909871—53 33 


28, 64, 67, 68, 414 
Guaicuré Indians, 299 


504 


Guatemala, Mexico and southeastern 
United States, fish poisons, 267 
(table) 


Havasupai Indians, 253 
Hedysarum mackenzi1, 256 
Heizer, Robert F. (Aboriginal Fish 
Poisons), 225-283 
Heizer, Robert F., and Massey, William 
C. (Aboriginal Navigation off the 
Coasts of Upper and Baja Cali- 
fornia), 285-311 
Hekandika, Indian tribe, 436, 4387 
Helianthella sp., 250 
Hematite stones, faceted, 365-366 
Hemispheres, 360-361, 375 
barite, 360 
hematite, 360, 375 
limestone, 360 
siltstone, 360-361 
Henry, Alexander, fur trader, informa- 
tion from, 5, 58 
Hermaphrodites, Crow, 58 
Hidatsa, relation to Crows, 19 
Hindu-Buddhist art, 79, 80, "82 
Honing stones and sinew stones, 
364 


9-24, 63 
363- 


Hopi, Indian tribe, 253 

Horse trading, by ‘Crow 8, 25 

Horses, relation to war, 25-27, 428 

Hudson’s Bay Co., relations 
Indians, 47, 49 

Hunting Dance (Snake Dance), 170 

Hura crepitans, 240, 252 

Hyascamus niger, 249 

Hydnocarpus wightiana, 236 

Hypericum aspalathoides, ingredient of 
Black Drink, 202 


with 


Indian Music, see Music. 
infanticide, practice of, 57 
Influenza, epidemic of, 57 
Iroquois Indians, 253 
Ixkun, art designs, 91 


Jagera pseudorhus, 242 
Juanefio Indians, 300 
Juniperus californica, 422 


Kaminaljuyu, art designs, 88 (fig.), 96, 
109, 1 


Kayak, Eskimo canoe, 306 

KGliwa Indians, 296 

Kiowas, Indian tribe, 405, 406, 407, 408 
relations with Crows, 40 

Klamath Indians, 291, 307 

Knives, chipped stone, 366-368 

Koniag Indians, 304 

Koryak tribes, 304 

Kutenai, Indian tribe, 403, 405, 406, 414 


La Amelia, art designs, 90 (fig.), 91, 95 


Lake Okeechobee, home of Seminoles, | 


161 


BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 


(BULL. 151 


La Mar, art designs at, 91 

Larocque, Frangois, fur trader, informa- 
tion from, 5, 21, 24, 25, 30, 34, 36, 
37, 38 

La Verendrye, Pierre, fur trader, 5 

Lemhe Shoshone, Indian Tribe, 403 

Lepidium oleraceum, 246 

Leptotoenia multfida, 252 (map) 

Iicopus sp., 250 

Little White Bear, Crow chief, 41, 43, 
45, 47, 48, 55 

Lobelia tupa, 258 

Lonchocarpus sp., 236 

Long Hair, Crow chief, 24, 41 

‘biogra phy of, 63 

Loeng-nosed God, designs of, 104, 107, 
108, 109, 110, 112, 115, 119, 120 

Long-nosed Serpent Head X, designs of, 
102, 108, 109, 112, 117 

Lotus, in Hindu-Buddist art, 79, 82 

Lower Temple of the Tigers, Chichen 
Itza, 110 

Lowie, Robert H., 
28, 39, 32 

on Shoshone Sun Dance, 420, 427, 

471 

Luisefio Indians, 294, 297, 298, 300 


information from, 20, 


Mackenzie, Alexander, fur trader, 5 
Madrid Codex, art designs, 96, 101, 103 
Magnolia virginiana, ingredient of Black 
Drink, 202 
‘“Maize God,” figure of, 103 
Makah, music of, 215, 221 
Mandan, Indian tribe, 407 
Manihot esculenta, 242 
Manihot utilissima, 242 
Massey, William C., see Heizer and 
Massey, 285-311 
Mattaponi Indians, 253 
Mattole Indians, 297 
Maximilian, Prince, 16, 32, 49, 50, 58 
Maya Art, floral forms in, 80-101 
The Water Lily in (Rands), 79-153 


MecDonnelle, Anne, editor, information 
from, 24 
Meat, preparation of, 205-206 
Medicine, ‘‘Assistants’” with, 183, 189, 
191, 200, 201, 208 
helpers with, 188-184, 187, 189, 191 
new, 171-172, 207 
private, 172, 201, 208 
War, 172 
Medicine Bundle, 190-191, 200, 207 
Big Cypress, 162 
care of, 171, 189, 191, 205, 208 
Florida Seminole, 159-210 
myths connected with, 164-167, 
168, 205 
original, 167-168 
owners of, 162-163 
the Medicine, 163-167, 205 
Medicine Fire, kindling of, 200 


INDEX 


Medicine men, Florida Seminole, 162, 
179, 188 
functions of, 59, 162-163, 171, 175, 
177, 186, 187, 188, 189, 190, 191, 
196, 200, 201, 202, 203 
Men, Crow, description of, 33 
Shoshone, ceremonial dress, 422, 
442-443 
Mescalero Indians, 253 
Mexican Period art, 79 
Mexico and Central America, fish poi- 
sons, 252-253 
Miccosuki Division, Seminoles, 160, 
162, 175, 180, 189 
Minnetarees, Indian tribe, 19 
Mound features, Adena Mound, 332, 
333 (fig.), 333-352 
summary, 349-353 
Mounds, burial, 338, 339, 349, 341, 342, 
343, 344, 345, 346, 347, 348, 349 
Mundulea suberosa, 246 
Music, religious, 444-445 
Music technique of American Indian, 
211-216 
accuracy in repeating a melody, 214 
ene of pitch during a song, 215- 
1 


difference in tempo of voice and 
drum, 215 

improvisation, 214—215 

tone production, 213-214 

use of words, 214 


Muskohegan, see Cow Creeks, 161 


Naranjo, art designs at, 105 

Natrium, West Virginia, Adena Mound 
at, 317-395 

Nelumbo sp. (Hindu lotus), 117 

New World, fish poisons, 257-258 

Nez Percé, Indian tribe, 436 

relations with Crows, 25, 27,70 

Nicotiana sp., 241 

Nicotiana tabacum, 241 

Nine Lords of the Underworld, 106 

Northern Paiute Indians, 232 

Northern Ute, music of, 214, 215 

No Vitals, Crow chief, 62 

Shea ampla (water lily), 81, 82, 
11 


Oceania, fish poisons, 245-246, 262 
(table) 


“Of the Crow Nation’? (Denig), 19-74 

Oglala, Indian tribe, 408 

Ohamagwaya, Shoshone chief, 422, 426, 
428 


Ohamagwaya or Yellow Hand, lineage 
of, 412 (fig.), 431 

Ojibway, Plains, Indian tribe, 408 

Old World, fish poisons, 256-257 

Ophiocaulon cissampeloides, 242 

Osceola, Seminole chief, 197 


505 


Paddles, aboriginal, 290 (map) 
Chumash, 292 (fig.), 295, 306 
double-bladed, 290 (map), 291, 294, 
_ 295, 296, 298, 300, 302, 303, 

305 (map), 305-308 
in the New World, 303-308 
Paiute, Indian tribe, 435 
Palenque, art designs, 85 (fig.), 87 (fig.), 
88 (fig.), 89 (fig.), 90 (fig.), 91, 
92, 95, 96, 99,101, 105, 106, 107, 
108, 109, 110, 112, 114, 115, 116, 
118, 119, 120, 121 

Pamunkey Indians, 253 

Panacks, relations with Crows, 38 

Papago Indians, 253 

Paraiso, art designs at, 95 

Paviotso Indians, 232 

Pawnee, Indian tribe, 45, 221 

Pebbles, use of, 372-373 

Pecking stones and hammer stones, 365 

Pendant, sandstone, 373 

Perez Codex, art design, 101, 103 

Persea borbonica, ingredient of Black 

Drink, 202 
Peyote cult, Shoshone, 4387, 443, 467 
(table), 471 

Phyllanthus sp., 236, 255 

Picrasma ailanthoides, 236 

Piedras Negras, art designs at, 92, 96, 

101, 107, 115; 216 

Piegans, Indian tribe, 64 

Piper methysticum, 240 

Pipes, 361-363 
tubular, 362-363, 375, 376 

modified, 361-362, 375 


Piscicides, cultural status of, 236-243 _ 
method of employing, 231-232 


| Plants, primitive use of, 234-236 
| Pomo Indians, 297, 298 
| Ponea, Indian tribe, 408 


Pottery fragments, 373-374 
Prayers, Seminole, 174 
Shoshone Sun Dance, 446, 447, 448, 
449, 450, 457 
Projectile points, chipped stone, 368 
Proskouriakoff, Tatiana, 79, 101, 121 
Pterocaulon undulatum, ingredient of 
Black Drink, 202 


Quirigua, art designs, 86 (fig.), 87 (fig.), 
89 (fig.), 90 (fig.), 91, 95, 99, 100, 
101, 103, 106, 108, 109, 110, 111, 
112, 114, 115, 118, 121 


Rafts, log, 289, 290 (map), 291, 295, 
299-300, 306, 307 
tule balsa, 289, 290 (map), 291-296, 
299 


Randia dumetorum, 236 

Rands, Robert L. (The Water Lily in 
Maya Art: A Complex of Alleged 
Asiatie Origin), 75-153 


506 


Rattles, buffalo scrotum, 423, 444 
gourd, 494 
Seminole Indian, 184-185, 194, 195 | 
tin-can, 184— 185 
war, 170-171 
Religion, Seminole, 172-175 
Rhododendron dauricum, 256 
Rio Hondo, art designs, 88 (fig.), 89 
(fig.), 109 
Rohrschach-test data, on Sun Dancers 
and nonparticipants, 477-478, 
479-480 (table) 
Rotten Belly, biography of, 38-56 
Crow chief, 24, 38, 63, 69 
Running Eagle, Piegan woman chief, 68 


BUREAU 


St. Clair, H. H. (Manuscript notes on 
the Wind River Shoshone Sun 
Dance), 474-475 

Salix amphibia, ingredient of Black 
Drink, 189 

Saliz sp., 239 

Santa Rita, art designs at, 87 (fig.), 96, 

100 


Santa Rosa Xtampak, designs at, 115 
Santee-Dakota, Indian tribe, 403 
Sapindus saponaria, 236 
Sarsi, Indian tribe, 408 
Schoolcraft, Henry R., 
Denig, 11-12 
Scirpus sp., used for rafts, 290, 291 
Serapers, chipped stone, 368 
Scratching, Green Corn Dance cere- 
mony, 206-208 
Sebastiana palmeri, 240 
Sebastiana sp., 236 
Seibal, art designs at, 95 
Seminoles, see Florida Seminoles. 
Seri Indians, 296, 304, 306-3807 
Serpent Bird, water lily with, 107, 108, 
109, 119, 120 
Shell fragments, 374 
Shimkin, D. B. (The Wind River Sho- 
shone Sun Dance), 397-484 
Shoshone, characteristics of, 428-435 
Great Basin, 253 
Hekandika, 408 
relations with Crows, 2 
Wind River, 397-484 
Sioux, Indian tribe, 69, 219, 220, 221 
music of, 215, 219 
relations with Crows, 25, 26, 27, 
38, 45, 56, 63 
Siskyone Indians, 299 
Smallpox, epidemic of, 44, 45, 46, 57, 
428, 433 
Small Robes, Piegan band, 28 
Smilacina sesstlifolia, 250 
Snake Indians, relations with Crows, 25, 
30, 31, 70 
Solecki, Ralph 8. (Exploration of an 
Adena Mound at Natrium, West 
Virginia), 317-395 


relations with 


5, 57 


Song, Indian belief in connection with 


Supernatural (Densmore), 217- 
223 


OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 


[BuLL. 151 


South America, fish poisons, 254-255, 
268-272 (table) 
| Southeastern United States, fish poisons, 
253-254 
Southern Asia and Malaysia, fish poi- 
sons, 245, 259-262 (table) 
South Temple, Chichen Itza, 110 
Spotted Elk, Blackfeet chief, 48 
Stem and root, tabulation of Maya 
treatment, 99-101 
Stone artifacts, chipped, 366-370 
rough, 363-366 
Sun Dance, Arapaho, 406, 407, 408, 414, 
415-416 (table), 419, 421 
Blackfoot, 403, 407, 408, 415-416 
(table) 
ceremonies, 405-406, 407, 494-495 


Christian influence on, 436-437, 
441, 467, 468, 471, 495-496, 497— 
499 

Comanche, 403, 407, 414, 415-416 
(table) 

Committee, functions of, 470, 490— 
49] 


Crow, 405, 415-416 (table), 473 
dispersal of, 407-408 

feast, 426— 427 

history of, 405, 406-407, 408, 417 


ideology, 495-496 

Kiowa, 405, 408, 414, 415-416 
(table), 419 

Kutenai, 405, 406, 408, 415-416 
(table) 


layout and paraphernalia, 452 (fig.) 
modern version, 435-451, 451—458 
Oglala Dakotas, 408, 415-416 


(table) 

Plains Cree, 403, 408, 414, 415-416 
(table) 

tipi, economic differences, 466 
(table) 


erection of, 404, 421, 440, 492-494 
Dance, Wind River Shoshone 
(Shimkin), 403-484 


Sweat bath, Seminole, 200, 207 


Sun 


Tabeau, Pierre-Antoine, fur trader, 5 


Tamiami Trail, home of Miccosuki, 162, 
205 


Tamiami Trail Indians, Seminoles, 177 
Tamoyos Indians, 304 


Technique in the Music of the American 
Indian (Densmore), 211-216 


Temple of the Cross, 105 
Temple of the Foliated Cross, Palenque, 
ils 


Temple of the Sun, 108, 109 
Temple of the Tigers, 110 
Temple of the Xtoloe Cenote, 83 
Tepantitla frescoes, 80 

Tephrosia toxicaria, 236, 254, 255 
Textile remains, 374-375 

The Bear’s Head, Crow chief, 24 


INDEX 


The Belief of the Indian in a Connection 
between Song and the Super- 
natural (Densmore), 217-223 
The Big Robber, Crow chief, 24 
biography of, 63-64 

The Medicine Bundles of the Florida 
Seminole and the Green Corn 
Dance (Capron), 155-210 

The Water Lily in Maya Art: a Complex 
of Alleged Asiatic Origin (Rands), 
79-153 

The Wind River Shoshone Sun Dance 
(Shimkin), 397-484 

Thompson, David, fur trader, 5 

Thompson Indians, 291, 307 

Tikal, art designs, 87 (fig.), 96, 115 

Tobacco Planter, medicine man, 5 

Tolowa Indians, 296, 297, 299 

Trudeau, Jean-Baptiste, fur trader, 5, 20 

Tulum, art designs at, 87 (fig.), 96, 100, 
101,115 

Two Crows, Crow chief, 33 

Two Face, Crow chief, 24, 41 


9-63 


Umbellaria californica, 250 
Upper and Baja California, aboriginal 
neteee off the coasts of, 289- 
11 
Usumacinta, art designs at, 95, 120, 121 
Ute, Indian tribe, 403, 408, 435, 436, 
437, 440, 444, 456, 470, 472, 491 


Vaccinium myrsinites, 
Black Drink, 202 
Vase, art design, 90 (fig.) 
Venereal disease, prevalence of, 57 
Venturefio Indians, 298 
Verbascum phlomoides, 256 
Verbascum sp., 236, 248, 249 
Verbascum thapsiforme, 256 
Villagra Caleti, art designs at, 105 
Vitis caribaea, 
Drink, 202 
Vitis rotundifolia, ingredient of Black 
Drink, 202 
Voget, Fred W. (Current Trends in the 
Wind River Shoshone Sun 
Dance), 485-499 


ingredient of 


War Dance, Seminole, 171 
Washakie, Shoshone chief, 428, 429, 431 
Water lily, areal and chronological 
trends, 113-117 
eyes with, 106-107 
glyphie associations with, 110-113 
ee and arms amid plants, 103- 
1 
head or forehead with, 104-106 
in Maya Art, 79-153 
miscellaneous associations 
108-110 
mouth with, 107-108 
mystic associations, 102-110 
myths associated with, 114-117 
resemblances to lotus in Indian Art, 
117-120 


with, 


ingredient of Black | 


507 


Water lily—Continued 
sources of tables, 146-149 
summary and conclusions, 120-122 
Water-lily leaf, Maya treatment, tabu- 
lation of, 84, 91, 113, 122-124, 
125-145 
Whetstones or grooved silt stones, 364— 
365, 37 
Whistles, eagle bone, 422, 423, 442, 455 
“White Medicine,” ingredient of Black 
Drink, 202 
Wichita Indians, 253 
Willow (Salix amphibia), 189 


Wind River Shoshone Reservation, 465 


(map) 

religions of, 467 (list), 468 (list) 

Wind River Shoshone Sun Dance, 

comparisons with others, 415-416 
(table) 

conclusions from, 472—474, 496-499 

Current trends in the (Voget), 
485-499 

informants’ stories, 409-411, 414, 
460-463 

list of informants, 476 

manuscript notes on (St. Clair), 
474-475 

origins of, 409-417 

preliminary dances, 492 

reconstruction, 417-428 

social and psychological factors, 
428-435, 464-472 


sponsorship and organization, 
489-492 
Wind River Shoshone Sun Dance 


(Shimkin), 397-484 

Wind River Shoshone Sun Dancers, 
and nonparticipants, Rohrschach- 
test data on, 477-478, 479-480 
(table) 

Winnebago, music of, 215 

Wiyot Indians, 296, 297 

Woman Chief, biography of, 64-68 

Women, description of Crow, 33-34 


Xealumkin, art designs at, 96, 109 
Xcocha, art designs at, 99 
Xultun, art designs at, 95, 107, 115 


Yaqui, music of, 221 

Yavapai, Indians, 253 

Yaxchilan, art designs, 86 (fig.), 91, 96, 
99, 101, 105, 106, 107, 109, 111, 
115, 116, 120 

Yellow Belly, Crow chief, 41 

Yellow Hand, Shoshone 
Ohamagwaya2. 

Yucatan, art designs, 88 (fig.) 

Yuchi Indians, 253 

Yuki, Coast Indians, 297 

Yuma, music of, 215 

Yurok Indians, 296, 297 


Zuni Indians, 253 


chief, see 


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